Mirai
by hatsuyuki
Summary: After 6 years,the Kenshin-gumi is needed once again, but will they be successful this time with one more to look after?...spoilers for the kyoto arc and the manga
1. A day and a life of Himura Kenshin

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *'   
They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.  
  
  
  
A day and a life of Himura Kenshin  
  
  
* crash! *   
  
Kenshin, the former Hitokiri Battousai, woke up with a start. He ran out of the room, only   
to have his son jump on him, wet, with only a towel wrapped around him.  
  
"Oro?!?" Kenshin fell to the floor, landing hard on his head.  
  
"Oro?" His son, sitting on top of him, looking a little confused.  
  
"Oro, oro, oro..." Kenji continued as he clapped his hands and started bouncing in his   
father.  
  
"Himura Kenji!" Kaoru came up behind the boy and picked him up.  
  
The boy ignored being picked up and continued oroing * ^_^;;; * while clapping his hands   
together.  
  
"Kenshin, gomenasai, Daijobu ka?" Kaoru bent down to help her husband up. Only giving their   
son Kenji an opportunity at pulling his father's hair.  
  
Since Kenshin had his hair cut, he had thought Kenji would stop pulling on his ponytail.   
Unfortunately, it did not stop his hyperactive son from finding other ways of amusing   
himself.  
  
"Aa. Daijoubu." Kenshin laughed as he slowly untangled Kenji's tiny hands from his hair.  
  
"I wonder where he gets this habit of running out of the shower. From you or from me."   
Kaoru giggled as she walked back to the toilet, this time, not intending her midget of a   
son to escape her.  
  
"Aa." Kenshin picked himself up from the floor. 'I guess it would be awhile before I get to   
use the toilet, might as well get breakfast ready.'  
  
Kenshin walked slowly towards the kitchen, deciding on what he should make, when he was run   
over by Yahiko.  
  
"Oro?!?!" Kenshin lay there on the floor before getting up.  
  
"Kenshin. Gomen, by I have to get going. The Akabako has been very busy nowadays and they   
need my help. See ya!" Yahiko said in one breath before speeding out of the dojo's gates.  
  
"Yare yare, some things never change." Kenshin got up and patted himself before continuing   
his way to the kitchen.  
  
As soon as he was done, Kenji came running into the kitchen just as he predicted.  
  
"Three, two, one." He said as he slowly put down each finger according to the number.  
  
As soon as he reached one, Kaoru ran into the room, dripping water on the floor as she took   
a deep breath.  
  
"Himura Kenji. Get back here!" Kaoru said, losing her patience.  
  
"Maa, Kenji, listen to your mother, before she..."  
  
"Kenshin! Don't just stand there, help me!" Kaoru yelled in a voice that was probably loud   
enough for the people in Kyoto to hear.  
  
"H-hai." Kenshin ran after his son and scooped the giggling boy up in his arms.  
  
Kenji, not wanting to give in, bit Kenshin's hand, and as soon as Kenshin lost his grip on   
the boy, Kenji fell to his feet and continued running again.  
  
"Orooo?!?!" Kenshin laid swirly eyed on the floor.  
  
"Mou, Kenshin." Kaoru began her chase again, stepping on Kenshin as she did.  
  
"Orororoooo?!?!" Kenshin fell back onto the floor once again.  
  
It was awhile before the former samurai was able to collect himself and slowly walk back to   
his room the get his clothes and then to the toilet to take a bath.  
  
'Aa. The water is so relaxing.' Kenshin thought.  
  
'Yahiko sure recovered fast from the shock, I guess it's because of his job at the Akabeko.'  
Kenshin looked up at the ceiling.  
  
~flashback~  
  
"NANI!" Yahiko shouted.  
  
"Gomen, gomen, but I think I will need my Sakabatou once again." Kenshin said, his voice   
calm.  
  
"Why?" Yahiko had just 'beaten' Kenshin in a battle just a week ago to earn the right to   
own the Sakabatou, and now, Kenshin wanted it back.  
  
"You heard what Saitoh said, recently, someone has been kidnapping and murdering people. In   
order for Kenshin to protect them, he will need his sword. He can't do it bare-handed can   
he?" Kaoru nagged as she held Kenji with her hands, preventing him from running around.  
  
"I was not asking you, busu!" Yahiko said.  
  
"Nani!" Kaoru would have gotten up and whacked the boy in the head, if she had not been   
holding Kenji.  
  
"Maa maa." Kenshin got between the two, waving his hands.  
  
"Urusai!" Both Kaoru and Yahiko took their free hand and punched Kenshin in the face. As   
Kaoru did it, she let go of Kenji, not really caring where he would go. Right now, she just   
wanted to settle a score with her student.  
  
"Ororororooooo..." Kenshin flew though the door and landed in the garden.   
  
Kaoru reached behind her and pulled out her boken, ready to attack Yahiko anytime.  
  
Kenshin managed to catch Kenji and was now once again between the two.  
  
"Maa, Kaoru, I think Kenji is tired and wants to sleep. Do you mind?" Kenshin said, putting   
Kenji in Kaoru's arms, taking her boken from her.  
  
"Kenshin!" Kaoru hit Kenshin on the back of his head before turning around to go out of the   
room.  
  
Kenshin fell face flat on the floor from the hit his wife delivered.  
  
"Kenshin." Yahiko went to him and helped the man up.  
  
"Arigatou. So, what do you say?" Kenshin asked, returning to the subject.  
  
"Fine, I'll return it to you." Yahiko stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Kenshin   
alone.  
  
"Arigatou, Yahiko." Kenshin whispered.   
  
~End flashback~  
  
Kenshin had already gotten out of his bath and was heading towards the kitchen for breakfast.   
Kaoru had managed to get Kenji to sit still.   
  
"Aa. Kenshin. Come and eat. Thanks for making breakfast." Kaoru took her seat opposite   
Kenshin and started eating. Stopping once in awhile to clean the mess Kenji would make.  
  
Soon after they were both done eating, Kaoru went to prepare her things for teaching her   
class. Usually, when she was teaching her students, Kenshin would take over and look after   
Kenji. As she, or rather anyone human, would not be able to look after Kenji and teach a   
class Kendo at the same time. But this time, she needed Kenshin to go and complete some   
errands for her. So, she had left Kenji in the care of their neighbor.  
  
"Kenshin. Can you go down town and get one fish, eggs and tofu." Kaoru shouted from the   
gate.  
  
"Aa. Hai." Kenshin picked up his Sakabatou and tied it to his side. For some reason, he   
just felt like it. Even though he knew that no one would dare create commotion in broad   
day-light. 'I guess old habits are hard to get rid off.'  
  
Kenshin left as soon as he was ready. Bringing his money pouch with him.  
  
Kenshin went first to get the eggs, then the tofu and lastly, the fish. Haggling until he   
found the price reasonable.  
  
Kenshin hummed a tune as he walked home. Little did he know, that when he reached home, he   
would have a surprise waiting for him.  
  
* Back at the dojo *  
  
"Kenshin! Jou-chan! Is anyone home?" The former street fighter came through the door.  
  
"Dare?" Kaoru came out from behind the entrance.  
  
She was speechless as she saw who was standing before her.  
  
"Hey Jou-chan, how are you?" Sanosuke said as he took a step forward.  
  
"Sanosuke. You're...back." Kaoru said, her voice barely audible.  
  
"You don't seem very happy to see me." Sanosuke stood in the garden, his bag slung over his   
shoulder.  
  
By this time, most of Kaoru's students were peeping at their visitor from behind Kaoru.  
  
All of them wondering who the man was. Sanosuke has not changed one bit. Although he did   
look a little taller, but that was all.  
  
"Tadaima!" Kenshin walked through the gates, only to crash into his friend.  
  
"Kenshin!" Sanosuke ran up to his friend and patted him on the back.  
  
"Oroooo?!?!" Kenshin, not expecting his friend to hit him so hard, almost fell over.  
  
"Hahaha, gomen kenshin." Sanosuke went to help Kenshin up.  
  
"What do you all think you are doing? Get back to practice. I want all of you to complete   
your warm up, followed by three hundred katas." Kaoru shouted at her students, who knew   
better then to disobey her.  
  
"H-hai!" All of them ran back into the dojo to begin their practice.  
  
"Sanosuke, come in." Kaoru gestured as she walked ahead.  
  
"She hasn't changed much has she? Still shouts at people the same way, and still as scary   
as ever." Sanosuke whispered to Kenshin.  
  
"Don't say that, Kaoru has changed, a little. For one thing, her cooking has gotten a   
little better as soon as she started her lessons with Tae-san." Kenshin whispered back.  
  
As soon as they reached the room, Kaoru brought in some tea for both of them.  
  
"I would love to stay and talk, but I have some very lazy bums as students. Sano, why don't   
you stay for dinner, then we can all do some catching up." Kaoru said, leaning on the door   
frame.  
  
"I'll think about it." Sanosuke said, remembering that if he stayed for dinner, Kaoru would   
probably be the one cooking.  
  
"Fine then, I'll leave the two of you alone now." She then walked back to the training   
hall.  
  
"Kenshin, You had better be telling the truth when you said that Jou-chan's cooking has   
gotten better." Sanosuke said.  
  
"Hai hai. Anyway, it's good that you are back. I, or rather, we need some help." Kenshin   
said.  
  
"Mind telling me the situation?" Sanosuke asked.  
  
"Not at all. Recently, there have been a number of kidnappings and murders occurring   
around Tokyo. Saitoh has been put in charge of the situation right now, and he came just a   
few days ago telling us to be careful." The red-headed samurai placed his cup down.  
  
"I see, and you need my help to figure out who this guy is."  
  
"Yes, it seems that this person is very good at covering his tracks. Even Saitoh can't   
figure out who had done all these things." The red-headed samurai looked at his friend,   
feeling sorry that they would have to do this as soon as he came back.  
  
"So then, it'll be like old times, ne?" Sanosuke clenched his fists.  
  
"Hai. I'm afraid we will need all the help we can get, since we can't seem to contact Aoshi   
or Misao." Kenshin picked up his cup and slowly sipped his tea.  
  
"You can count on me." Sanosuke stood up, almost toppling his cup of tea.  
  
"Arigatou."   
  
"By the way, where is Yahiko, haven't seen him yet. Is he still practicing with Kaoru?"   
Sanosuke turned and raised an eyebrow at the man sitting on the floor.  
  
"Iie. He has already mastered the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, a few years back while you were away.   
Nowadays, he has been helping Tae at the Akebeko." A smile slowly crossed the man's face.  
  
"I see. I guess I'll come back later. I need to go home and drop off some stuff there."   
  
The former street fighter turned around,   
  
"Aa. I'll walk you out." Kenshin stood up to follow his old friend, out the door.  
  
"Kenshin, one last question." Sanosuke said.  
  
"What is it?" Kenshin asked, unsure if he had left anything out.  
  
"What did you do with your hair?!" The ex Zanza pointed at Kenshin's head as he started   
tearing from laughing.  
  
Kenshin sweatdrops.  
  
"I'll fill you in on it later." Kenshin said.  
  
"Fine. Ja ne!" Sanosuke waved before beginning his way home.  
  
'I hope Tsunan has been doing what I told him to. I sure don't want to clean up the   
cobwebs.' Sanosuke continued walking down the road in which he had always used to take.  
  
  
"Arigatou, Tsujimoto-san. I hope he didn't cause you too much trouble." Kenshin bowed as   
he held his son in his arms.  
  
"Aa, * cough * it was * cough * nothing." Tsujimoto answered, half covered in flour.   
  
Apparently, Kenji seems to like the kitchen a lot. He always used to hide there when Kaoru   
was looking for him.  
  
Kenshin bowed once more before turning to walk out of his neighbor's house.  
  
'Thank goodness Himura came back fast, I think I would have lost my mind if I had to stay   
in the same house with his son.' Tsujimoto thought before turning to go back into the house.  
  
"Kenji, what did you do to Tsujimoto-san?" Kenshin said once he was back in the dojo.  
  
All Kenji did was laugh, but it was enough to soften the man's heart.  
  
"Don't do it again, promise?"  
  
"Aa." Kenji just nodded.  
  
"Hai, now let's get back inside, and clean you up." Kenshin held the boy in his arms as he   
walked back into the dojo.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
That was the first chapter. Ne, minna-san, pls r&r, and let me know I should continue.   
Arigatou!! 


	2. Tomodachi (Friend)

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *'   
They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.   
  
  
Tomodachi (friend)  
  
The sun had set, Kaoru was sitting impatiently at her seat. Everyonce in awhile, she would   
shift position.  
  
"You know, you really should take lessons from your husband on patience. Ohohoho..." The   
oh so familiar doctor stood in the door way.  
  
"Nani!" Kaoru almost jumped on the fox doctor, if not for Kenshin who had intervened.  
  
"Megumi-dono. Come in a have a seat. Sano and Yahiko are both not here yet." Kenshin poured   
Megumi some tea, and sat back down in his seat.  
  
"Ah. Even after so long, that Tori Atama 'chicken head' still has not changed, he's still   
late as usual. He probably got lost on his way here." Megumi laughed.  
  
~ At Sanosuke's house ~  
  
"Maa, Tsunan, I can't believe you didn't keep you promise." Sanosuke said, sniffing in   
between his words.  
  
"I did. More or less. I having been coming here cleaning up a few times the first and   
second year you were away. If I had known you who leave this place and come back after   
seven years, I would not have made that promise in the first place." Tsunan said, standing   
in the doorway.  
  
"Hai hai. It my fault then. But Kaoru will kill me if I am late." Suddenly, Sanosuke turned   
to look at his friend.  
  
"What? Do I have something on my face?" Tsuana said, patting his cheek.  
  
"Nope, but you are going to do me a favor." Sanosuke walked up to Tsunan grinning.  
  
"I am?" The former Sekihou Tai member backed away, hoping he would be able to get away, but   
only to find himself cornered by a wall.  
  
  
  
"Jou-chan, Sorry I'm late, I made it here as fast as I could." Sanosuke walked towards   
them and sat down beside Megumi.  
  
"Do you have any idea what time it is? The food is cold now." Kaoru rolled up her sleeve,   
intending of venting her anger.  
  
"It's okay, I'll go and heat them up now." Kenshin picked up the dishes and headed for the   
kitchen.  
  
"Hey, Yahiko isn't here yet." Sanosuke said as he looked around the room.  
  
"Yes, and unlike you, he actually has a job and is working right now. He said that he'll   
come a little later." Megumi said, sipping her tea.  
  
"I see. But just so you know, I had some important things to take care off." Sanosuke   
grinned.  
  
"And what might that be?" Kaoru said, clenching her fists, so as to not hurt anyone.  
  
"A had to persuade a friend of mine in keeping a promise he made a very long time ago."   
  
~*~  
  
"Maa, Sanosuke. I'll get you for this. You owe me." Tsunan sneezed between every word. He   
was holding his broom his one hand and sweeping away the dust. The other hand was to cover   
his nose and mouth to prevent any more dust from entering.  
  
~*~  
  
Kenshin was walking down the hall, when he felt something tug at his hakama. He looked   
down, expecting to find a stray cat there, but to his surprise, he found Kenji.  
  
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Kenshin placed the food he had in his hands on the floor.   
He picked up the boy and held him in his arms.  
  
"Okachan...kowai (1)" Kenji tucked his head in his father's neck.  
  
"Maa maa. Daijoubu." Kenshin patted his son's back. Slowly, he bent down, picking up as   
much as he could with his one free hand, and walked back to the room.   
  
Yahiko had arrived, and Kaoru was going on about how men are always late or something like   
that. Sanosuke and Megumi were bickering among themselves as usual.  
  
"Kaoru, can you give me a hand?" Kenshin stood at the door, awkwardly holding his son in   
one hand and a stack of trays in the other.   
  
"Aa. Gomen ne. I didn't know he had gotten away." Kaoru went up to Kenshin to help him,   
but to his dismay, Kaoru reached for Kenji instead of the trays.  
  
As soon as Kenji was out of his care, Kenshin placed the trays on the floor, leaving his   
friends to take their own, while he went back to the corridor to get the rest of their   
dinner.  
  
As soon as Kenshin had gotten back, he stood at the door, looking at his friends, eating   
'happily', like they had used to, before Sanosuke had left, and Yahiko and gotten a job.   
He admits that he missed times like these.  
  
"Oi, Kenshin, don't just stand there, sit down and eat before the food gets cold again."   
Sanosuke mumbled as he chews on his fishbone.  
  
"Aa." Kenshin took his place by Kaoru's side once again.  
  
"ITADAKIMASU! (2)" Yahiko shouted over the whole din everyone was making.  
  
"Itadakimasu!" Both Sanosuke and Kaoru joined in.'  
  
Kenshin just smiled as the memories came back to him.  
  
Both Sanosuke and Yahiko begin stuffing their faces with the food.  
  
"You know, you shouldn't eat like that. You could chock and then die from...ohoho...it   
alright then, go and eat all you want...ohohoho!" Megumi   
  
"Kitsune, for a minute there, I thought you cared." Sanosuke turned to look at the doctor.  
  
"ahehehe..."Yahiko takes this chance to snatch the former Zanza's fish.  
  
Yahiko snickers as he swallows the fish whole and waits for Sanosuke's reaction.  
  
"Ah...nani!" Sanosuke turned back to find his food missing. He turns to Yahiko to confirm   
his suspicion.  
  
"Teme..." Sanosuke jumps on Yahiko, expecting to somehow get his fish back.  
  
Meanwhile, Kaoru is sitting there, her veins in her forehead throbbing.  
  
"Hn!!!"....* whack * * whack *  
  
Both Yahiko and Sanosuke land on the floor, bumps smoking on their heads.  
  
"Good move Tanuki, now who is going to clean this mess up?" Megumi looked at the pile,   
consisting of both the chicken head and monkey boy. She poked Sanosuke in the leg, but no   
response came.  
  
"Hm!" Kaoru ignored her and carried on eating.  
  
Kenshin was smiling, even though his friends just got beaten up by his wife, he still was   
happy that they could get together again. Even though it was not for the good of things.   
This would probably be the last dinner they will have together before Kenshin and Sanosuke   
leaves to find out and fight the person who has committed those crimes.  
  
Kenji had fallen asleep after Kenshin had fed him. It was not usually, who would not be   
tired after running around and messing up things for the whole day.  
  
"Ne, Kenshin, Daijoubu?" Kaoru waved a hand in front of Kenshin's face. He had not eaten   
yet, and Kaoru, noticing him, was worried.  
  
"Aa. I was just feeding Kenji. It seems that he had quite a day today. He's fast asleep."   
Kenshin pushed a few locks of hair away from the boy's face.  
  
"You had better eat before Sanosuke and Yahiko wakes up. I'll look after Kenji in the   
meantime ne?" Kaoru reached out to pick up the boy.  
  
"Aa."  
  
  
The next morning, was the same as always, Kenshin got up early and made some onigiri for   
breakfast. As soon as he was done, he went out to get some tofu. It seems that Kaoru had   
used up all for yesterday night's dinner. He left a note by the door and hopes that Kaoru   
sees it when she awakes.  
  
It was nice to go out early in the morning, the cool morning breeze, and the soft chirping   
of the birds could be heard. It also gave Kenshin some time to think about the clues his   
enermy left behind.  
  
'All four murders, and all that was found on the bodies were the words 'tenchu' on them.   
Could it be? It can't be, can it? The people who were killed were used to be part of the   
Isshin Shishi, who would want to do such a thing?' Kenshin had been thinking about so much,   
he had past the tofu vendor.  
  
When he had realized his mistake, he quickly turned back and went to buy some from the man.  
  
On his way home, Kenshin went through the information that Saitoh had given him. So far, he   
only knew of one person who would do this. An ex hitokiri who used to work for the Isshin   
shishi besides him or Shishio.   
  
'But who could it be?' These words toyed in his mind until he reached the dojo again.  
  
"Kenshin, I'll be going now. Ja ne" Yahiko speeded past him with an Onigiri in his mouth.  
  
Before Kenshin could answer, Yahiko was already out of sight.  
  
"Yare yare." Kenshin turned towards the kitchen, with the tofu in hand.  
  
"Kenji! Get back here this instant." Kaoru's voice could be heard.  
  
"Oh oh..." Kenshin got ready to be jumped on. He closed his eyes, when he felt a wet figure   
jump on him.  
  
"Ororoooo?!?!" Keshin fell to the floor, as the tofu he had in his hands flew up into the   
air.  
  
Kenshin immediately got up, and caught the tofu again before slipping on the water which   
his son had dripped when he had ran out of the bathroom.  
  
"Oroorororooo...." Kenshin laid on the floor, swirlly eyed for a minute.  
  
Kenji laughed as he crawled towards his father. As soon as he got to Kenshin's side, he   
poked the man a few times, before Kaoru came and picked him up again.  
  
"Gomen ne Kenshin, but do you mind cleaning this up? And, I think we need more rice and   
some other things. I'll leave the list in the kitchen." Kaoru asked.  
  
"Aa...." Kenshin slowly got up, and leaned against the wall. 'Some things will never change.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
1) Kowai: scary or scared  
  
2) Itadakimasu: Let's eat!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
Another chapter...ahh...ne minna-san, pls r&r, and tell me what you think so far...  
Arigatou!! 


	3. Unexpected Visitor

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *'   
They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.   
  
  
Unexpected Visitor  
  
  
It was a nice and bright day. Really. Until rain starting pouring from the heavens at the   
most unexpected time.   
  
Soujirou was just enjoying walking by a river when it started raining.  
  
'You have to be kidding me.' He hastened his pace to find shelter. Luckily, he managed to   
find a cave like structure, beneath a tree.  
  
Soujirou could not help but feel cornered by his thought. It was times like this that   
Soujirou hated. Waiting, alone. It leaves you with nothing to do but to think. Which was   
the one thing Soujirou had a lot of trouble doing.   
  
It has been eight years, eight very long years. Soujirou was now twenty six. Yet, he still   
has his ever boyish face.   
  
'Two more years, then, what will I find? What did I hope to find in the first place. How   
can I be sure that I would find my truth at the end of the ten years? What if the answer I   
find is not the one I want?' Soujirou could not help but to keep his emotions from over   
running his mind sometimes. Even after so many years, Soujirou still had the habit of   
locking up his emotions and thoughts once in a while.   
  
'Even after all this traveling, I don't think I have changed much, have I? Maa. If   
Shishio-san was here, I'd probably get punished for me getting myself into this mess.' He   
laughed at his current state. His clothes were all torn, not to mention a little wet from   
the rain, his skills probably rusty from the lack of practice, and if all that was not   
enough, Soujirou was broke. He could not help but feel sorry for himself sometimes.  
  
Soujirou watched as the rain slowly became a drizzle, all the time staring at the rays of   
sunlight which managed to get past the dense leaves.  
  
By the time the rain had stopped, the sun had already set. Soujirou decided to build a   
fire, but discovered that the rain had dampened all the wood around the area.  
  
'This is not my day.' Soujirou went back to his little cave. He gathered some dried up   
leaves from his shelter and started a small fire.  
  
'I hope this is enough to last the night.' Not wanting to sit there and do nothing the   
whole night, the boy got up and went to the river which was not far away.  
  
'I wonder what Shishio-san would do to me if he finds out what I have been doing with my   
sword skills.' Soujirou laughed, and then went to catch himself some dinner.  
  
As soon as he got back and had eaten his food, Soujirou went through his usual practice.   
Amazingly, Soujirou found the patience to start from the beginning. Since he had no one to   
spar with, he just does katas and other exercises to build up his speed and stamina more.   
Even though the only time he uses his speed and swiftness nowadays is when he is catching   
his meals.  
  
Soon after his practice, Soujirou set aside a small place by the fire, and soon fell   
asleep.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Faster, and use your arm more!" Shishio shouted at the poor boy who was getting drenched   
in the rain while he himself sat beneath a shelter with Yumi by his side.  
  
"Hai Shishio-san!" The ten year old boy took a deep breath once again before continuing   
his practice.  
  
"Don't you think you are being a little hard on him?" Yumi whispered.  
  
"No, I have high hopes for him. This boy does not know his limits. Right now, all he wants   
to accomplish is to be stronger. That's why I'm pushing him to his limits, even if he does   
not know it." Shishio said.  
  
"I see."   
  
They both watched as the boy continued to practice in the rain.  
  
  
Soujirou laid in his futon that night, he was burning up. Yet, he did not want to let   
anyone know of his situation. He wanted to be strong, so no one would be able to take   
advantage of him ever again.  
  
The little boy curled up in his futon, trying to get some warmth from it. Soujirou lay in   
bed that night shivering, crying himself to sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Are?!" The former tenken woke with a start. Surprised at what he had just experienced.   
  
'Is this what people call a dream? If it is, I don't want to know what they call a   
nightmare.' Soujirou, having lost his appetite, packed up his belongings and went on his   
way.   
  
Soujirou walked towards the entrance of the forest. He followed the road, walking till he   
reached the next town.  
  
  
At first, Soujirou could not believe his eyes.  
  
'How did I get here?' Before him, was Tokyo. The busy town was bustling of people, its   
streets looked like a river of colors, people were haggling with the street vendors,   
smiling as they got a discount. Soujirou weaved his way through the crowd, unsure of where   
he may end up later.  
  
'Since I'm here, maybe I should pay a visit to Himura-san. Or would I disrupt his life that   
way?' Soujirou thought about it for a while, and decided to visit his old 'friend'.   
  
Soujirou walked into a restaurant, hoping to find out from someone if anyone around here   
knew of a man known as Himura Kenshin.   
  
"Irrashimase!" A waitress made her way towards Soujirou as soon as she spotted Soujirou   
by the entrance. She was a little shorter then Soujirou was, and had shoulder length hair.   
  
"You would have to wait if you want to eat here; it's packed today and..." She stopped as   
she noticed Soujirou waving his hand.  
  
"Aa. Gomen, I just want to know if you know where Himura Kenshin lives."   
  
"Himura-san? Why sure, he lives in the Kamiya Dojo, it isn't far from here, but I'm busy   
right now, so I can't bring you there." Tsubame answered.  
  
"Oi, Tsubame, I need you help here, mind coming back to help." A boy emerged from behind   
her. He was a little taller then Soujirou, and had very spiky brown hair.  
  
"Aa, Yahiko-kun, good, you're here. Do you mind bringing this boy to the Kamiya Dojo?"   
Tsubame asked.  
  
'Boy?' Soujirou's face paled.  
  
"I don't mind, but do you think you can handle the work here? There is still a lot of work   
to be done." Yahiko asked as he handed Tsubame his tray, and removed his apron.  
  
"It's alright, I'll manage." Yahiko blushed as Tsubame smiled at him.  
  
"Aa. Will you wait here for a while, I need to get my things at the back first." Yahiko   
said.  
  
"Hai. Sorry for the trouble." Soujirou stood there and waited for the boy to return.  
  
Yahiko came back out with his shinai tied to his back.   
  
"Let's go. I need to get back here soon to help Tsubame with the dishes." Yahiko said, half   
dragging Soujirou by his collar as he ran.  
  
"Matte kudasai." Soujirou straightened himself as Yahiko stopped and had let go of Soujirou.  
  
"Hurry, I don't have all day." The boy said tapping his foot.  
  
"Aa." The blue clad boy held back his laughter as he followed the boy.  
  
Both walked side by side till they reached the bridge.   
  
"So, what do you want with Kenshin?" Yahiko said, not turning to face Soujirou.  
  
"I was just traveling and found myself here. So, since I am here, I think it will be rude   
of me not to come by and visit Himura-san." Soujirou smiled at the boy, who finally turned   
to look at his companion.  
  
The continued walking until they were almost at the dojo.  
  
"You seem kind of familiar, do I know you?" Yahiko asked.  
  
"I don't believe we have met, but I don't think Himura-san would have told you much about me."   
Soujirou, kept his pace with the boy's, half wondering why he was slowing down.  
  
"Aa, so, what's you name?" Yahiko asked.  
  
"Seta, Seta Soujirou." The former assassin turned to smile at the boy, only to feel the   
boy's shinai connect with his head.  
  
"Tenken. What do you want with Kenshin. Haven't you already caused enough trouble in the   
past?" Yahiko jumped back as soon as he attacked the poor, confused, and now hurting boy.  
  
"Maa maa, I didn't come to find trouble, I just came to visit Himura-san like I said."   
Soujirou stood up and placed his hand on his head. 'He must be the one who had defeated   
Hennya. Now I know why he won. With a stroke like that, I don't think any normal human   
being can survive it.'  
  
"Why should I trust you?" Yahiko yelled, drawing attention to both of them.  
  
"I'm not drawing my katana am I? If you want, you can keep it with you. I don't plan on   
drawing it any time soon." Soujirou proceeded to untie his katana which has been hanging   
at his side up until now. He stretched out his hand and gave his katana to Yahiko.  
  
Yahiko, not letting his guard down, took the katana from the boy's hand and held it in his   
hand.  
  
"Fine, but if you try anything,..." Yahiko said in a threatening tone.  
  
"I can't and I won't. Trust me."   
  
"I find it very hard to do." Yahiko continued walking.  
  
"It's alright, I understand." Soujirou caught up with the other boy in no time.  
  
  
It wasn't very long before the both of them reached the dojo.  
  
* Crash! *  
  
"Tadaima!" Yahiko shouted, before bending down to catch a miniature Kenshin in his arms.  
  
"Huh? Himura-san, what happened to you?" Soujirou said to the red-headed boy in Yahiko's   
arms.  
  
The boy only giggled before he began pulling at the former tenken's hair.  
  
The blue clad boy could only laugh.  
  
"Oi, busu, come and get your son!" Yahiko yelled into the dojo.  
  
'Son?' Soujirou shifted his eyes to find a girl, running out of the dojo. She had long   
black hair, and was wearing a yellow kimono.  
  
"Aa, Kenji, let go of the boy's hair this instant!" Kamiya, or should I say, Himura Kaoru   
came running out of the dojo with a broom in hand.  
  
By the time Kaoru managed to dislodge Kenji from Soujirou's hair, the boy's head was   
already hurting.  
  
'Second time today. I wonder if a third is going to happen again?' Soujirou could only   
laugh as he rubbed his head again.  
  
With her son safe in her arms, Kaoru bowed and apologized to Soujirou.  
  
"Daijoubu, I'm alright. Ano, I was wondering if I could speak to Himura-san?" His smile   
widened as he choked back a laugh.  
  
"Aa, please, come in. He's out buying some groceries at the moment." Kaoru guided Soujirou   
into the dojo.  
  
"Oi, tanuki, I have to go back to the restaurant now, it's very busy with the festival and   
all. Ja ne!" With that, the boy dashed out of the dojo and ran back to the Akebeko. 'I hope   
chicken head gets back early, if not, who knows what will happen if that guy loses his mind   
again.'  
  
"Aa, forgive the boy, he's always been like that." Kaoru then brought Soujirou into the   
dojo and asked him to make himself at home. She then left Soujirou alone as soon as she   
had gotten a cup of tea for him.She then dragged Kenji into his bath.  
  
'Home...' Soujirou sighed as he sat down. 'I wish I could, but I don't know how it feels   
like.'  
  
He slowly sipped his tea.   
  
"Tadaima."   
  
Soujirou straightened himself as he heard a familiar voice.  
  
"Aa. Kenshin, you have a visitor. Put the things in the kitchen first." Kaoru shouted as   
she popped her head out of the toilet, half drenched.  
  
"Hai." Kenshin did just that and walked through the hall before turning to enter the room   
in which Soujirou had been sitting in while waiting for him. 'I wonder if it's Saitoh again.'  
  
Kenshin opened the shoji, and stood there, a little surprised at who his guest was.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Aa...done. ne, minna-san, pls r&r and tell me what you think about the story so far.   
Arigatou! 


	4. Trust

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *'   
They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.   
  
  
Trust  
  
  
"Konnichiwa Himura-san." Soujirou smiled. He expected the reaction he was receiving, so it   
was not too bad.  
  
"Soujirou, is there any particular reason you are here?" Kenshin stiffened as he sat down   
in front of Soujirou.   
  
"Nope, none really. I was just passing through, and I thought it would be rude of me not   
to at least come and greet you." The boy picked up his cup again and sipped the tea.  
  
"I see." Kenshin let up his guard as he heard someone approaching.  
  
If Soujirou had heard of felt it, he did not show any sign that he did.  
  
"Kenshin, Saitoh is here." Kaoru was now wearing her training uniform. Kenji was nowhere   
in sight. Kenshin use assumed that Kaoru had left him in the care of Tsujimoto-san again.   
  
Kaoru left as suddenly as she appeared, as soon as Saitoh entered the room, she had ran back   
to the training hall to continue the kendo lesson.  
  
"Aa, Himura, it seems like you have another guest today." Saitoh turned to look at Soujirou.   
  
The boy shifted in his seat, feeling a little uncomfortable. Being wanted for murder did that   
to you if you were in a room with a police officer. And it did not help that the officer   
was an ex-Shinsen gumi member.  
  
"Seta Soujirou. I didn't think that I would find you here." Saitoh grinned at the idea that   
came into his mind.  
  
"Aa, I was just passing through, and I just came to visit Himura-san." The former tenken   
tensed up as Saitoh took a seat beside him.  
  
A moment of silence came after.  
  
"Well, Himura-san, I'm sorry to intrude. I really should be going now." Soujirou stood up   
and bowed.  
  
"Matte." Saitoh said.  
  
The boy froze, thinking that he was going to get arrested. He wanted to reach for his katana,   
but remembered that he had entrusted it to the boy at the restaurant. Instead, the boy just   
decided to act normally.  
  
"Is anything the matter?" Soujirou turned to face the two men before him. He had his usual   
smile on his face, to him, it was as normal as he could get.  
  
A frown slowly crept across Kenshin's face as he realized Saitoh's plan, but he did not say   
anything about it.  
  
"Sit down, and we'll talk about things." Saitoh grinned.  
  
'This can't be good.' "Hai." Soujirou took it one step at a time. Literally. He walked   
slowly towards his seat and sat down, not once looking at the ex-Shinsen gumi captain.  
  
"I don't know if you know about this, but recently, some murders have been taking place.   
All of the victims were former Isshin Shishi members." Saitoh ignored the look Kenshin shot   
at him when he said this.  
  
"And you think I committed them?" Soujirou replied, not really surprised if that was what   
the older man thought.  
  
"No, but we need all the help we can get to find and stop the person or people doing this.   
Many people are getting insecure, and are losing their confidence in the police each day.   
Therefore, we must act fast."   
  
"So, what do you want me to do?" Feeling safer about his situation now, the young boy   
relaxed a little, but still kept his guard up in case Saitoh intends to change his mind.  
  
"Well, if word gets around that the tenken is in town, there could be a possibility that   
whoever committed this would want you on his side." The man answered.  
  
"No." Kenshin said.   
  
"And why not?" Saitoh turned his attention towards the red-head.  
  
"Firstly, you want to risk someone's safety just to find out who the person is. Secondly,   
don't you think the person might realize what you are trying to do?" Kenshin said calmly.  
  
"Have you ever thought that you, Himura-san, could be next. It's obvious that they are   
targeting and murdering ex Isshin Shishi members." Saitoh grinned.  
  
"I don't care, I will be able to protect myself...and my family."   
  
"Ano, I don't mean to interrupt, but Himura-san, I think he is right." Soujirou cut in   
after he had sorted the events out in his mind.  
  
"See, even the boy agrees with me." Saitoh smiled. Thinking and knowing that he has won,   
Saitoh stood up and walked to the closed shoji.  
  
"If you have any better ideas, contact me. Excuse me." Saitoh soon escorted himself out of   
the dojo.  
  
'What is it, Himura. I know you know something. But, just what is it?' Saitoh questioned to   
himself as he made his way back to his office.  
  
  
Kenshin and Soujirou sat in silence. Soujirou, not knowing what to say just sat there,   
looking as he twirled his fingers. Kenshin felt angry, and concerned. But he was happy to   
know that Soujirou would help him. Yet, if the boy does, he would be risking his own life,   
and Kenshin would not allow that.  
  
"Soujirou." Kenshin was the first to speak, breaking the cold silence between them, but not   
relieving the tenseness in the air.  
  
"Hai." Soujirou looked up at the older man, expecting a long lecture.  
  
"Do you remember what you wanted to do eight years ago?"   
  
"Hai, to find my truth." Soujirou wondered if this was a trick question.  
  
"Then, continue your journey. There is no use staying."   
  
"Himura-san, please don't say anything. Like Saitoh said, you or your family could be next   
on the man's list. If you don't care about yourself, think about them. You can't always   
protect the ones you love, by yourself. Please, Himura-san, let me help. And who knows,   
maybe I can find my own truth from this experience." Soujirou stopped, taking a deep breath.   
'I wonder if I have talked to much before...'  
  
Kenshin looked up at the boy before him. 'He has grown a lot mentally in the long time he   
was traveling.'  
  
"Arigatou Soujirou." Kenshin bowed.  
  
"Ahh...it's okay." Soujirou places and hand on the back of his head and starts laughing.  
  
"Ano, Himura-san...Does this mean I can keep my katana with me?" Soujirou asked.  
  
"Yes, is anything the matter?" Kenshin asked, scanning through the blue clad boy only to   
notice that he was not carrying a katana.  
  
"Ano...well, I left it with a boy called Yahiko, and I don't think he would be too happy   
when I ask him back for it." Soujirou sighed. How was he supposed to fight or protect   
anything with his katana. 'My leg muscles are strong, I wonder if I can fight.'   
  
"Hai, I'll get it back from him tonight." Kenshin said, a little confused as to why Yahiko   
wanted Soujirou's katana.  
  
"Arigatou. Demo, I have another problem." The young boy blushed at his awkwardness.   
  
"Hm, nani ka?" Kenshin asked one more time.  
  
"Ano...ano sa...eto...well, the problem is, I've used up all my money already, and since I   
was not planning to stay in town, I thought it would be alright, but now,...well...it seems   
like I will be spending awhile here."   
  
"Well, if you want, you can stay here. It seems we have an extra room since I moved out."   
Kenshin blushed for a short moment.  
  
"Moved to where, aren't you still staying here?" Soujirou turned to look at the man, who   
was trying very hard to answer his question.  
  
"Can I not answer this question?" Kenshin, without waiting for an answer, pulled Soujirou   
onto his feet and dragged him to his room.  
  
"Huh?" The boy only managed saying that before having his brains jumbled around in his   
skull from the speed Kenshin was dragging him.  
  
"Until this whole mess is settled, you can stay here." Kenshin opened the shoji to his   
original room, letting the boy wander around inside awhile to get use to it.  
  
Soujirou took a step in, before turning around.  
  
"Arigatou, Himura-san, you don't know how much this means to me." Soujirou bowed, feeling   
very grateful to the man.  
  
"But, how do you think the boy or you wife will react to this?" Soujirou lifted his head   
to look at Kenshin.  
  
"It's alright. But, can you do me a favor?" Kenshin whispered it into the boy's ear.  
  
Soujirou nearly fainted when he heard what his duty was.  
  
  
~ 10 minutes later ~  
  
Kenji was bouncing happily on Soujirou, who was not too happy about his current position.   
Kenji was sitting on Soujirou's shoulder, and every once in awhile, the little boy would   
pull his hair.  
  
Soujirou laughed, as he reached to take the boy down, feeling something tugging at his hair   
even though the boy stopped moving.  
  
When the former tenken pulled harder, he realized that his hair was in the boy's mouth as   
he felt something wet reach his skull. 'Drool?...* Sweatdrop *'  
  
The blue clad boy moved towards the kitchen where Himura was. Hoping that he could solve   
this problem.  
  
Kenshin expecting something like to happen when he saw Soujirou put the boy on his shoulder   
removed the boy who was now chewing on Soujirou's hair.  
  
Kenji didn't stop chewing, until he realized he was in his father's arms and had been   
biting nothing but air for the past few seconds. The little boy stretched out his hands,   
reaching for Soujirou hair.  
  
"I think you should wash you hair now, it's in a mess." Kenshin held on to the wriggling   
boy in his arms.  
  
"Aa. Arigatou." Soujirou walked out, and straight to the bathroom.  
  
"Kenji, how many times...Itai!" Kenji had bitten his father's hand, Kenshin could not do   
anything but to drop his son, who landed on his feet. The little boy was out of the room   
before Kenshin could recover.  
  
The little boy was at the bathroom door before Kenshin could make it down the hallway.  
  
Hearing someone knocking on the door, Soujirou just hurried and splashed some water on his   
hair, soaking it, before using some shampoo (??) and washing it off. As soon as he was done,   
the knocking stopped and Soujirou opened to door to see who it was.  
  
Outside, Kenji was struggling in Kenshin arms before wriggling out and jumping on Soujirou   
again.  
  
Luckily, Soujirou's reaction was fast, if not Kenji would have probably fallen face flat on   
the floor. He caught the boy, and stared at Kenshin.  
  
The other man was only happy that Kenji was out of his hand and he was able to go back to   
his cooking before he burnt his tofu. And no one likes overcooked tofu.  
  
Soujirou spent the rest of the day playing with the little boy, having his hair pulled and   
chewed on over and over again. Kenji even tugged at Soujirou's hakama once and it almost   
dropped. Apparently, Kenji had loosened the strings at Soujirou waist when he was struggling   
in his arms outside the bathroom.  
  
'It is going to be a long day. I never thought looking after a single child would be this   
hard.' Soujirou mumbled to himself before going back to looking after the little boy.  
  
At dinner that night, Sanosuke had come over again to have dinner, and Yahiko was home   
early as there were fewer customers today.  
  
"Tadaima!" The spiky head boy shouted as he walked through the dojo's gates.  
  
"Oh, welcome back." Soujirou looked up and smiled. The boy was sitting at the steps of the   
dojo, trying very hard to hold the hyperactive boy in his arms.  
  
"Tenken! What are you still doing here?" Yahiko asked.  
  
At that moment, Kenji jumped off Soujirou's lap and jumped up and down.  
  
"Tenken, Tenken..." Then, he started laughing as he fell over.  
  
"Yare yare, I'd rather you not call me that. I don't go by that name these days." Soujirou   
smiled before picking Kenji up.  
  
"Well, what have you done?" Yahiko asked.  
  
"Nothing, I've been here the whole day." Soujirou wanted to add more details, but thought   
against it.  
  
"Nothing, then why is everyone staying indoors? And when they come out, their talking   
about a boy in blue, who was always smiling. The Akebeko was nearly empty today and Tae   
was so downhearted that she closed early." Yahiko nagged.  
  
"He didn't do anything." A tall man walked through the gates.  
  
"Sanosuke! How would you know?" Yahiko spun on his heels to find the former Zanza standing   
behind him.  
  
"Well, on my way here, I saw Saitoh and he told me part of the story." Sanosuke walked   
towards Soujirou and patted him on the back.  
  
"Very brave of you do look after that boy." The tall man whispered into Soujirou's ear   
before walking into the usual room in which he would find his dinner.  
  
At Yahiko's side, hung Soujirou's katana. Yahiko, trusting the boy a little more, threw it   
at the boy. Soujirou caught it with his free hand.  
  
Without a word, Yahiko walked passed the other boy, and made his way to the room.  
  
'That went well.' Soujirou took one last look of the sunset before he walked back in.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Minna-san, arigatou for all the reviews. Pls continue to r) Arigatou!! 


	5. Lost

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *'   
They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.   
  
Lost  
  
  
Dinner that night went better expected. Sanosuke did not mind Soujirou staying around for a   
while. Kaoru did not mind either. It was not that bad, at least if Soujirou stays, there   
would be someone to look after Kenji while she was teaching her students, and Kenshin out   
practicing or getting some groceries.   
  
The only person who did not really agree or object to the other boy staying was Yahiko.   
Soujirou knew that Yahiko could not bring himself to trust him, but he didn't mind. Most   
people don't anyway.  
  
At dinner, Kenshin and Soujirou found out Saitoh had already passed the rumors among the   
people. It caused many people to stay indoors, even if a festival was going on.  
  
"So, what do you intend to do? Go along with that wolf?" Sanosuke placed his bowl and   
chopsticks down. 'I'd rather follow what the smiley-face boy then that man.'  
  
He was not one to like being told what to do. If it was Kenshin, he wouldn't mind. But, it   
was that Mibu Wolf.   
  
"We don't have any other choice now. Saitoh has everything planned out. I know it. I don't   
like working with that man as much as you do, but we have to." Kenshin reached to pick up   
his own bowl to eat.   
  
He has been feeding Kenji all the time. Kenji now stayed snuggled to his chest, using his   
tiny hands to encircle his father's body as much as he could.  
  
Soujirou watched on as the 'family' before begin debating on what do to. Then, he looked at   
the boy cuddled on Kenshin.   
  
'Both of them look so much alike. I can't see much of his mother in him. Must have gotten   
his personality from his mother then.' He turned and looked at the girl who was sitting   
beside Kenshin. She was a year younger then him, and she has already found her family. Then,   
Kaoru started shouting, something about doing what would be too risky, or something like   
that.. 'Yep, he must have gotten his personality from his mother.'  
  
"Soujirou, you agree with me right?" Yahiko turned too looked at the dazed and confused boy.   
  
"Are?" Soujirou snapped back into reality when he felt something connect with his head. 'That's   
the third time today. Someone up there really does not like me...'  
  
"Oi! Smiley-face boy. Weren't you listening at all?" Yahiko snapped at the poor boy across   
the table.  
  
'Smiley-face boy?'  
  
Soujirou laughed. "Aa...gomen gomen, I guess my mind kind of dozed off for awhile." He   
placed a hand behind his head before laughing once again, secretly rubbing the spot in   
which the boy had hit him.  
  
Everyone sweatdrops, not knowing what to do.  
  
"I think we all should turn in. It's getting late." Kenshin made the first move.  
  
He stood up, carrying his red-head son in his arms, before turning to walk out of the room.  
  
"Aa, he's right. I should be going back too, before it gets to dark to see anything. Ja ne!"   
The former Zanza stood up and waved a single time before following his red-hair friend.  
  
"Fine!" With one word, Yahiko moved towards the door and stomped out of the room.  
  
"Gomen, it has been very tensed nowadays." Kaoru picked up the dishes one by one, stacking   
them on each other.  
  
"Ano, Kaoru-san, let me help you." Soujirou reached out to stack up his own pile of dishes.  
  
"Arigatou." She stood up gracefully, as she balanced the trays and dishes with her hands.  
  
Both walked in silence to the kitchen.  
  
"You can leave them here, arigatou." Kaoru placed some of the dirty dishes into the sink,   
and was about to start washing them when Soujirou cut in.  
  
"Leave them to me, it's the least I can do." Soujirou gently pushed the surprised girl out   
of his way, and then started cleaning the plates first.  
  
Kaoru, a little happy that she did not have to clean up tonight, thanked the boy one more   
time before 'bouncing' out of the kitchen, leaving Soujirou alone to clean up.  
  
Soujirou was done in no time, after he had cleaned up and had taken a bath, he walked   
slowly to his room. He placed his katana beside him on the ground, before unfolding his   
futon.  
  
He slowly slid under the cover and hoped that sleep would come soon. The boy knew that he   
needed all the rest he could get, before tomorrow when he had to look after Kenji again.  
  
  
Yahiko had gotten up early the next morning, he had a bad feeling about something, but he   
just can't place his finger on it.  
  
'I know it's not about Soujirou this time, but something else." He got out of bed and wrote   
a note, before leaving for the Akebeko.  
  
As expected, the restaurant was not open yet. So, the boy slid his note under the door, and   
made his way back to the dojo.  
  
By the time he had reached the dojo, everyone was awake. Kaoru was busy running around the   
house, trying to catch her red-headed hyperactive son.  
  
Soujirou then appeared from the bathroom. His hair was wet, the water was dripping onto his   
gi. As soon as he noticed it, he lifted a towel to dry it a little to at least stop it from   
dripping.  
  
"Aa, Yahiko-kun, Ohayo." The former tenken was the first to notice him.  
  
"Hai, Ohayo." Yahiko greeted him back, a little guilty from the way he had been treating   
the other boy. 'Come to think of him, he is a little like Kenshin. Both used to be killers   
and have incredible sword skills. Both also had very tragic past. I guess I should be nicer   
to him.'  
  
Yahiko then walked into the room in which the meal was laid out.  
  
Soujirou smiled, than bent down to catch the runaway boy. Kenji begins struggling in the   
boy's arms.   
  
"Kenji!" Kaoru reached out her hands to take her son.  
  
Soujirou gladly returned the boy to his mother before following Yahiko into the room.  
  
Kenshin followed Soujirou into the room. He placed the recently made onigiri in front of   
the two boys.  
  
"Yahiko, ohayo. What are you doing here? I thought you already left to the Akebeko." Kenshin   
asked as he sat down.  
  
"Ohayo. Yes, I just came back from there. I left Tae and Tsubame a note saying that I won't   
be going today." Yahiko said.  
  
Just a few seconds later, Kenji came running into the room with a white towel on his head.   
He ran to Soujirou and pounced on him.  
  
"Ah...Kenji. Mattaku." Kaoru came into the room, giving up on catching the little imp.  
  
"Ohayo!"  
  
They all turned towards the direction of the voice, and saw that it was Sanosuke.  
  
"Yare yare." Kenshin whispered under his breathe, before greeting the other man.  
  
"You don't sound happy to see me. Anything bad happen?"   
  
"Ohayo Sanosuke-san." Soujirou greeted the man, and received a nod.  
  
"Call me Sano. You don't have to be so formal all the time."   
  
"Hai." The boy smiled and nodded.  
  
"Hai hai, itadakimasu." Yahiko then begin to stuff all his food into his mouth.  
  
Kenji, seeing this, got off Soujirou and walked towards his own food. He looked at it for a   
while before imitating Yahiko.  
  
"Yahiko, don't set a bad example." Kaoru nagged at her former student.  
  
"It's not my fault he wants to copy me is it, busu." Yahiko mumbled through the food in his   
mouth.  
  
"Nani!" Kaoru went to reach for her boken, but was stopped by Kenshin.  
  
"Hm!" The girl picked up her son who was choking a little from the food he was trying to   
stuff down his throat a minute ago. Kaoru patted him softly on the back before feeding him,   
to make sure he does not try the same thing again.  
  
Yahiko stuck his tongue at her. He then started laughing.  
  
That was the last straw that Kaoru could take. She reached for her boken again, but as she   
expected, Kenshin stopped her again. Needing to vent her anger, she had pushed the now   
oroing (??) man aside and reached for her boken.  
  
With it in hand, she went up to Yahiko who had his own shinai drawn.  
  
"Maa maa, Kaoru-san. Yahiko was only..." * whack * The former tenken fell to the floor with   
a lump on his head.  
  
"Jou-chan..."   
  
Kaoru shot Sanosuke a death glare, before turning back to her former student to attack him.   
Sanosuke, who was either smart, or just plain scared of getting involved, stayed out of the   
way.  
  
Both Yahiko and Kaoru started exchanging hits. First block, attack, block, attack, attack.   
Yahiko kept his pace in mind, as anger boiled up in Kaoru.  
  
Kaoru stopped attacking when she felt something tug at her hakama. She looked down,   
intending to swat away whatever was there. She lifted her boken to attack once again, but   
stopped when she saw Kenji standing there, face scrunched up.  
  
"What's wrong?" Kaoru, worried, bent down to talk face to face with the smaller boy.  
  
The boy did not say anything, but just started doing a dance around the floor. His face   
showing his urgency.  
  
"I see, let's go." Kaoru walked out of the room, towards the toilet.  
  
"Oi Busu. What about..."   
  
* WHACK *  
  
Kaoru walked away, hand in hand with her son. All the male in room except Sanosuke laid on   
the floor with lumps on their head.  
  
Kenshin was the to recover, being used to having head hit so hard that he could feel his   
brain vibrating in his skull.  
  
"Sano..." He whispered before falling back on the floor.  
  
  
The rest of the day went rather smoothly, the former Zanza was nowhere in sight. If that   
was not good, then no one knows what is.  
  
Yahiko asked Kaoru to include him in the lesson. Both he and the girl 'danced' while the   
rest of the students just stood by and watched as they defended each others attack.  
  
The match ended when both admitted that they were exhausted. Kaoru then asked Kenshin to   
take over. The poor samurai had no other choice. So, he went through the basics, pretending   
that he didn't know anything else.  
  
"Ahahahaha..." The little red-headed boy laughed as Soujirou tickled him.  
  
"That is for chewing on my hair." The former tenken fell over to his side. He lay beside   
the little red-headed boy, panting and chocking back his laughter.  
  
Soujirou was getting very attached to the boy. Even if being with the little boy would cost   
him his hair, he didn't really mind.  
  
Suddenly, the thought of him bold crept into his mind.  
  
'Then again, maybe not.' Soujirou laughed, but stopped as he felt some one else's presence   
in the room.  
  
"Kenji...Kenji..." When no answer came, Soujirou turned his head to find the boy gone. All   
that was left was a note, which was on the very same spot that the little boy had been just   
a few minutes ago.  
  
"KENJI!!"   
  
  
All the occupants of the Kamiya dojo turned to the direction of the voice. They all could   
not believe their ears when they heard Soujirou's voice.  
  
Dismissing the students, Kenshin ran towards the room in which Soujirou was supposed to be   
with Kenji. Kenshin was the first to reach Soujirou.  
  
"What's wrong?" Kenshin took a deep breath before scanning the area before him.   
  
Soujirou was crotched over on the floor, tears forming in his eyes. The older man feared   
the worst when he spotted a note on the floor.  
  
"Oi, whats the big idea shouting like that..." Yahiko paused mid-sentence as he looked   
around the room, only to notice that a certain little someone was missing, and was nowhere   
in sight.  
  
"Soujirou, where's Kenji?" Yahiko looked at the boy on the floor, who turned to smile at   
the two men at the door. His eyes, not showing his feeling again, as tears slid down his   
cheek.  
  
Kenshin did not say anything. Instead, he walked towards the note on the floor and picked   
it up. As he brought it closer to read, he realized that tears had stained the once white   
paper. He didn't need to guess whose it was.  
  
"They took him." Soujirou managed to say as he stopped his tears, and wiped his cheeks.  
  
"Who is 'they'?" Yahiko went up to the blue clad boy, shinai in hand, ready to beat Soujirou   
to a pulp if he did not get an answer soon.  
  
"Hijikata has him." Kenshin said loud enough for the two boys in the room, but not for   
Kaoru who was standing at the door, drying her hair.  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ahh...there, I kind of redid chapter 5 a little...*only the ending though*...I found this   
chapter kind of short, so I had to do add something to it...hehe...anyway...on to the next   
chapter...*for me*...pls r&r ne? Arigatou!!! 


	6. Journey

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *'   
They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.  
  
p/s: In case anyone missed it, I did some changes to the end of the previous chapter.  
  
  
Journey  
  
  
Kaoru stood in the doorway, drying her hair with a towel.  
  
"What happened?" Then something dawned on her when she looked around the room, and realized   
that Kenji was not here.  
  
"eh? Kenji wa doko?(1)"   
  
Kenshin turned around and handed the note to Kaoru before walking out of the room. He   
walked down the hallway, back to the room he shared with Kaoru. Halfway down the hall, he   
heard someone cry, for some reason, it sounded like it was very far away.   
  
Kenshin pushed his thoughts away, concentrating on the main objective now.   
  
'Why is it that trouble still follows me? Even after so many years.' The former hitokiri   
kneeled on the floor, sitting in front of sakabatou, sitting idly on its stand.  
  
Without a second thought, Kenshin placed his hand on the sheath of the sword, before picking   
up to tie at his waist.  
  
"Kenshin..." Kaoru stood in the doorway, eyes red from crying.   
  
Soujirou came up from behind Kaoru. He entered the room and stood between the couple.  
  
"Gomenasai. Honto ni gomenasai." The boy bowed to both the battousai and his wife.  
  
"It's not your fault." The older man walked passed the boy, to Kaoru. He whispered something   
to her, before walking past her, leaving the girl weeping.  
  
"Kaoru-san. Honto ni sumanai. I promise I will get him back for you." The former tenken said,   
before making his way to catch up with Kenshin.  
  
"Kaoru, where are they going?" Yahiko came up from behind Kaoru, letting her lean against   
him for support, before sitting her down on the futon.  
  
The girl did not say anything, all she did was open her clench fist, and gave the crumpled   
piece or tear-stained paper to the younger boy.  
  
Yahiko glanced through the note. The first word he saw was the answer to his question.  
  
"Kyoto...?" Yahiko whispered, before he bounded out of the room, running as fast as his   
legs could carry him. 'Sanosuke, please be there...'  
  
Kaoru, now alone in the dojo, cried as she rocked herself back and forth, trying to calm   
herself down.  
  
  
"Himura-san, matte!" Soujirou ran up to the red headed samurai, hoping that the older man   
would accept his help.  
  
Kenshin turned around at the sound of his name. He saw a smiling boy, trying to catch up   
with him.  
  
"Soujirou?"  
  
"Himura-san." Soujirou took a few breaths before finishing his sentence. "I know who   
Hijikata is, Shishio-san knew him, and..."  
  
"I know him to. He was also a shadow assassin for the Isshin Shishi, like Shishio and I   
were during the war."   
  
Soujirou took one last deep breath before pacing himself with Kenshin.   
  
Just minutes later, Kenshin and Soujirou had reached a path, one leading to an old friend's   
home, the other to the outskirts of town.  
  
Kenshin turned, taking the route to Sanosuke's house first.  
  
"Ano, Himura-san. Doko iku no? (2)" Soujirou said, a little puzzled at why he was headed   
the other direction.  
  
"I need to pick up a friend." The older man smiled once, before turning to continue walking.  
  
Soujirou said nothing. He just followed closely behind the other man.  
  
"NANI!" the ex Zanza stood up suddenly as Yahiko filled him in on what had just happened.  
  
Tsunan held on to the cups that were on the floor, which would have fallen over if he had   
not done so.  
  
"Yes, he's just left, so we might be able to catch up with him if we leave now." Yahiko   
urged the street fighter to hurry and get his things ready.   
  
Yahiko only had his shinai with him, it was also all he needed. He tapped his fingers on   
the doorframe, waiting impatiently for the chicken-head to get ready, when he felt a pat   
on his back.  
  
The young boy spun on the balls of his feet, shinai drawn and ready to strike. To his   
surprise, he found Kenshin and Soujirou standing in front of him.  
  
"Where's Sano?" Kenshin asked as he placed his hand on the tip of Yahiko's shinai and   
pushed it down.  
  
"Oi, Yahiko, who's there?" a voice came from inside the house, it sounded a bit muffled.  
  
"Kenshin..." Yahiko said as he stood there, shocked.  
  
Sanosuke suddenly came up from behind the boy, bag in hand.  
  
Both Kenshin and Sanosuke nodded at each other.  
  
"Let's go." Sanosuke said, before he turned around to face the other former Sekihoutai   
member. "Tsunan, remember to look after things here while we're gone."  
  
"Aa." Tsunan waved to the group, before walking off to his own home.  
  
  
"So, it's just the four of us?" Sanosuke asked, chewing on a fishbone in his mouth. *Old   
habits die hard, ne?*  
  
"Aa. Sorry for dragging you into this Yahiko." Kenshin said, not turning to face the boy.  
  
"It's alright. We'll all do anything to get Kenji back, ne?" The boy replied.  
  
"Hai." Soujirou spoke for the first time since they had left the former zanza's home.  
  
"Soujirou, you said you knew Hijikata just awhile ago, right?" Kenshin asked.  
  
"Hai. I met him once, a very long time ago when Shishio-san sent me to give something to   
him." The boy's smile widened as he recalled the man. "He was very generous and kind, he   
actually offered me to stay at his place after the long journey I took to get to his place,   
and...What?"  
  
His other traveling companions jaw's almost drop at the statement.   
  
The man which Soujirou had just described was anything but kind and generous. To Kenshin,   
he was cold and always quiet. Although he did not look like a swordsman at all because he   
was very thin and small built like Kenshin is, he was a master in his trade. He handled his   
sword with the grace and elegance of a swan. Kenshin wondered if Soujirou talking about the   
same man he had in mind?  
  
"You are telling us that you knew this man, when did you intend of telling us?" Sanosuke   
stopped in his tracks, waiting for an answer.  
  
"We already know, he told us part of this earlier." Yahiko turned and continued walking   
backwards, to keep up with Kenshin and Soujirou. Just after he stuck out his tongue at the   
street fighter, he somehow managed to trip over the root of a tree.  
  
Sanosuke laughed, while he just watched the other two men help the boy up.  
  
  
The sun was setting, and they were still in the forest. Soujirou went to gather some   
firewood, while Kenshin and the rest were trying very hard to get some fish for dinner.  
  
"Aahh..." Soujirou wiped the sweat off his face. He placed the firewood on the ground, as   
he watched as the other 'fished'.   
  
The boy laughed, all three men who had heard him, turned around, only to find Soujirou,   
laughing hysterically on the ground.  
  
Sanosuke was drenched from falling into the river twice. Yahiko too. Kenshin as the only   
one who was still standing dry, but he too had not yet caught any fish.  
  
"Stop laughing, if you think it's so easy, why don't you come and try." Sanosuke shouted,   
not realizing that Yahiko was standing right in front of him.  
  
"OI, what are you trying to do, get me deaf?" The younger boy pounced on the man.  
  
"Hai hai." Soujirou moved forward, still giggling, until he noticed Kenshin, who was still   
trying to catch a fish. 'He must still be thinking about Kenji and Kaoru san.'  
  
Soujirou walked towards the river, scanning through the water to find out where the fishes   
were.   
  
Both Sanosuke and Yahiko had stopped fighting, both watched on as the tenken jumped onto   
some rocks in the middle of the river. Kenshin soon walked to join them.  
  
Soujirou drew his katana, slowly raising is above the water, before swiftly stabbing into   
the water. When he withdrew it from the now blood-stained water, a fish was wriggling on   
the sword's tip.  
  
Both Sanosuke and Yahiko stood wide eyed on the bank.  
  
Soujirou smiled at them, before going back to catching them their dinner.  
  
  
"Where did you learn that?" Yahiko asked the other smiling man beside him.  
  
"There are some very useful skills you tend to pick up along the way when you travel, ne   
Himura-san." Soujirou glanced over to Kenshin.  
  
"Aa." Kenshin smiled at his friends, before going back to making the fire.  
  
A moment of silence past as all four of them waited for the fishes to cook.  
  
Just before, Soujirou was picked to clean the fishes, and now, his hands smell like them,   
even after washing them in the cold water of the river. Sanosuke and Yahiko had taken the   
liberty of shoving him into the water, while Kenshin giggled at the sight of Soujirou   
coming back to camp to sit by the fire to dry off.  
  
Soujirou watched as the fire danced around the fishes, burning it once in a while. He then   
went on to staring that the water which was still dripping down his fringe.   
  
Yahiko and Sanosuke were at it again. Both were arguing over almost everything. From who   
gets to eat the biggest fish, to who can hold their breath the longest. (???)   
  
'This is going to be a very long trip to Kyoto...' Kenshin thought as he looked at a very   
concerned Soujirou who was trying very hard to get Yahiko to give up.  
  
  
"Himura-san, stop crying and tell me what happened."   
  
The former captain of the Shinsengumi never thought that in a million years, would he have   
to sit and listen to a girl like that, not even his wife, let alone beg her to stop crying   
so he could make out what she was saying.  
  
"H-hai. Gomen ne." Kaoru held herself together, trying her best to stop her tears from   
flowing.  
  
"Now, tell me what happened."   
  
The girl just plainly handed the note over to Saitoh. Some of the words were smudged from   
the tears, but it was still readable, most of it anyway.  
  
~  
Hitokiri Battousai, if you want the boy back, come to Edo. Bring as many of your friends   
along, I don't care. I'll be waiting.  
~  
  
The name of the writer was smudged so badly, Saitoh could not make it out.   
  
He thanked Kaoru, before seeing himself out of her dojo.  
  
  
"Kaoru, pull yourself together." Megumi was getting worried. Kaoru has been mopping around   
the dojo for the past few days.  
  
Kaoru did not answer, all she did was stare at the wall on the other side of the room.  
  
"Are you even listening to me? Go to Kyoto and look for them." The female doctor prodded   
her shoulder, bringing her back to reality.  
  
"What?"   
  
"Go. To. Kyoto." Megumi said it slowly as if she was talking to a baby.  
  
"You're right." Kaoru shook Megumi happily.  
  
"I am?"   
  
"Yes, since I know the first place that they would go to once they arrive in Kyoto, I can   
catch a ship to Kyoto and make it there to meet them. Arigatou Megumi-san." Kaoru walked   
out of the room to pack, leaving Megumi wishing that she had never said anything.  
  
  
~A few days later at Sherry Babies~  
  
"Aah, we're here. I wonder if we should have contacted them first to tell them that we   
would have been arriving." Kenshin said to his friends.  
  
Soujirou walked with his head down, hoping that no one would recognize him, or at least   
hope that they don't remember what he did.  
  
All four walked through the door of the place.  
  
"Kaoru-chan, if you don't mind, could you please clear that table." Omasu said, into a very   
familiar girl's ear.  
  
"Busu!" Yahiko shouted as he pointed at the girl in an apron.  
  
Kaoru turned and saw her 'family' standing that the door.  
  
"Kenshin!" Kaoru ignored Yahiko as she ran across the room to her friends.  
  
"Himura san!" Omasu greeted their new guests.  
  
"Kaoru, what are you doing here? It's going to be dangerous, didn't I tell you stay in   
Tokyo?" Kenshin asked as Kaoru hugged him.  
  
"I want to help. If Yahiko can fight along side with you, I want to too. I not some   
helpless little girl anymore, not that I ever was, but..."She stopped mid-sentence, taking   
a deep breath.  
  
"Himura-san. Welcome, may I talk to you." An old man came out from behind Omasu.  
  
"Okina-san. What are you doing out of bed. You might injure your back again." A girl came   
out from behind the man.  
  
"Hikaru-chan. I told you I'm fine. Look." Okina begin 'dancing' around the room.  
  
* crack *  
  
"Okina-san. Daijoubu." Hikaru said, poking the old man, who had paused in his steps, with   
his back bent in what looks like a very painful position.  
  
"help..." Okina whispered.  
  
Kenshin took the liberty of straightening the man's back for him.  
  
* crack *  
  
"Ah...this way." Okina said, leading the Kenshin gumi and Soujirou to a room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
1) Kenji wa doko? : Where is Kenji?  
2) Doko iku no? : Where are you going?  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
Hehehe...sweatdrop...gomen minna-san, it seems i mixed up the names again...hehe...  
arigatou for telling me...  
  
I know...kyoto again...* all the trouble seems to come from Kyoto *...ahh...so, pls r&r,   
ne...onegai...hehe...Arigatou minna-san!! 


	7. Distressed

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *  
'They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.  
  
Distressed  
  
  
The once proud member of the Oniwabanshu was now sitting, withered like dying flower, back   
hunched. Okina must admit, age is the one thing he can not run away from.  
  
"So, Himura, any special reasons for being back in Kyoto?" The old man sipped his tea as he   
waited for an answer.  
  
It had been eight long years since he had last met the red-headed samurai. The last time he   
had come to Kyoto, it was to stop Shishio. What could be the reason this time? Was it that   
bad that the former tenken had to come along a help?  
  
"Well, a month ago..." Kenshin goes on, telling the old man everything he knew.   
  
Once in a while, Okina would look past the former battousai's face, and his eyes always   
seem to meet the smiling face of a certain blue clad boy.  
  
"So that's why we are here. To get back my son and to get Hijikata for all those people he   
had murdered to get to me." The red-haired man clenched his fist, cutting of the blood   
circulation to them, turning then white for an instant.  
  
"I see, so, what can I do for you?" He asked, sure that there had to be a catch to the man   
coming to 'visit' an old man like him especially during such a crucial time, for him and   
his friends.  
  
"I was wondering if you could let us stay here while we are in Kyoto, since..." Kenshin's   
voice softened, a little nervous of how to put this.  
  
"Huh? Sorry, you will have to speak up; these ears of mine don't seem to be working the way   
they used to eight years ago."   
  
Okina leaned forward.  
  
"We seem to be...um..." Kenshin blushed at his situation. Even though he was a rurouni for   
ten years, he had not been in need for money in such a long time.  
  
"Himura-san is trying to that he is" Before Soujirou could finish his sentence, Sanosuke   
decided to do it himself.   
  
The tori atama leaned forward, before shouting, "BROKE!" at the already half deaf old man.  
  
"Oroooo?!?!?" Kenshin felt backwards, landing on the floor, a little stunned at his friend's   
loud voice.  
  
Soujirou just sat there, staring at Kenshin, wondering why he was so shaken. Both stared at   
each other from their places. Kenshin was in a rather painful position, but he pushed it   
aside, ignoring the fast that his neck was hurting.  
  
"Ano, Himura-san, I think you can get up now." Soujirou said, help the man sit up.  
  
"Okina, would you..." Hikaru opened the shoji to the room, dashing in when she saw the old   
man.   
  
He was lying on the floor, legs and hands twitching in mid-air.  
  
"Okina-san, Daijoubu?" She asked, her face showing only worry for the old man.  
  
"Aa. Arigatou." Okina said, sitting back up, at the same time, gesturing her to leave.  
  
Once the girl was gone...  
  
"Whoa, Oyaji, where did you find her?" Sanosuke asked, half drooling.  
  
"She's my granddaughter."  
  
* Tong *  
  
Everyone in the room fell, shocked at what they had just heard.  
  
"She does not even look like you, how can she be..." Kaoru said, before being cut off.  
  
"Yeah, I didn't know you were married in the first place." Sanosuke laughed, and almost hit   
the old man on his back if he didn't remember who he was about to do that to.  
  
"No, no. Her parents and her sister had passed away two years ago, and she needed somewhere   
to go, so I adopted her."   
  
"Che." The street fighter leaned back against a wall.  
  
Before Yahiko could even think of something to say, Kenshin had already cut in to continue   
where he had left off.  
  
"Well, anyway, since we seem to be rather short of money right now, I was wondering if you   
could let us stay here." Kenshin asked.  
  
"Well, of course." Okina replied.  
  
"Arigatou."   
  
  
That night, dinner went surprising well, even if it was Kaoru who had done the cooking.  
  
"Jou-chan, you really overdid yourself." Sanosuke stared at all the dishes laid out on the   
table in front of him, drooling as he did.  
  
"Yeah, Kaoru-san, everything looks too nice to eat." Soujirou added.  
  
'Does he mean that or is he just too afraid to eat it.' Kaoru asked herself as she forced a   
smile on her face.  
  
"Itadakimasu!" Yahiko said, before picking up his chopsticks and gobbling his food down.  
  
Sanosuke was not too far behind the boy, as soon as Yahiko was gobbling down his food, he   
picked up his chopsticks, and just started stuffing himself, picking at some of the fish,   
tofu and some other dishes once in awhile.  
  
Okina was a little taken back by the spread that Kaoru had prepared at first, he just   
stared at his food, not sure what to so with it, as Yahiko and Sanosuke fight over each   
other's food.  
  
"Okina-san, I think you'd better start eating if you don't want it to be eaten by somebody   
else." Soujirou told the old man, remembering the time that happened to him.  
  
"Hai! Arigatou Soujirou. I suppose that you speak of that from experience." Okina said,   
before gulping down his sake.  
  
Soujirou only laughed his reply.  
  
Kenshin watched on, not touching his food. He was thinking about someone else now. Kaoru   
who had noticed her husband's mood right now, poked him in the arm, startling him.  
  
"Kenshin, I think you should start eating your food before it gets cold, or before something   
worse happens to it." Kaoru swatted away a hand which was on its way to Kenshin's rice.  
  
"Itai! Busu, what did you do that for?" Yahiko yelped as he held on to his sore hand.  
  
"Busu?!" Kaoru clenched her fists into balls, about to jump on the boy, until...  
  
  
"Himura-san!" Kaede pulled the shoji open so hard that it rattled the walls.  
  
"What is it?" Kenshin asked.  
  
Kaoru and Yahiko had stopped fighting, letting go of each other. Soujirou calmly placed   
down his bowl and chopsticks as he turned to face the girl at the door. Sanosuke simply   
turned to look at the girl. Okina, unlike everyone else, was simply to drunk to keep even   
himself focused on something for more than two seconds.  
  
The girl stumbled into the room, panting as she handed a shuriken (1) and a note to Kenshin.  
  
"It came through the window." The girl said, wobbling a little.  
  
"Kaede-chan, daijoubu?" Soujirou was the first to notice the blood which had stained the   
girl's sleeve. He walked up to her, noticing her shaking a little.  
  
"Aa." She replied.  
  
Kenshin looked down at the shiny star shaped weapon.   
  
'Where have I seen this before?' Kenshin's eyes opened wide when he realized that these   
weapons were usually coated with poison.  
  
Then, Kaede's eyes slowly fluttered shut as Soujirou caught her before she hit the floor.  
  
"Soujirou, hurry and take her to Omasu." Kenshin said, receiving a nod from the boy.  
  
Soujirou dashed out of the room, down the stairs, attracting everyone's attention as he ran   
to find Omasu in the kitchen.  
  
  
Kenshin slowly opened the note, shocked when a lock of red hair fell out of it. Both   
Sanosuke and Yahiko shot worried glances at their friends. Kaoru picked up the lock of   
hair, while Kenshin's hands shook as he opened the letter.  
  
~  
  
Glad to see you arrived in Kyoto. A little earlier than I expected, but, it does not matter.   
One of my men will go to where you are now, and escort you to a place. Well, see you   
tomorrow I guess. I'm sure you'll turn up with your friend, because I think this little boy   
here misses everyone.   
  
~  
  
Kenshin passed the letter on to Kaoru, who read it out loud. Kenshin picked up the lock of   
hair on the floor, staring at it, mind drifting away.  
  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Stay still!" Hijikata placed the little imp of a boy on a chair, before placing a bowl in   
front of him.  
  
Thinking that the boy knew how to eat on his own, Hijikata walked away, needing to tend to   
his own things. He walked to his work table on the other side of room.  
  
Kenji stared at the food. Then he looked at the tall man sitting by the other table. Then   
back at his food. Quietly, the boy inched to the edge of chair, jumping onto the floor   
quietly, before tiptoeing to Hijikata's side.  
  
There, he yanked hard on the man's ponytail.  
  
"Itai! What do you think you are doing! I thought I told you to eat." Hijikata picked up   
the little boy, carried him back to the table and dumped him onto the seat again.   
  
This time, he waited for the boy to pick up the spoon before he walked away.  
  
Kenji who had the spoon in hand, scooped up some rice in it and catapulted it, aimed it at   
the man's head.   
  
The rice flew through the air, landing hard on the man's head.  
  
"What did you do that for?" Hijikata turned to look at the boy, but realized that he was   
gone.   
  
Apparently, it seems that Kenji had inherited his father's accuracy and speed, the boy   
yanked hard on the older man's hakama, loosening the string that held it up a little.  
  
Hijikata picked up the boy once again, sitting him at the table. The picked up the   
chopsticks and started feeding Kenji. Little by little.  
  
'Kuso! I suppose that Kaede has been pampering him. I'll have to talk to her later.'   
Hijikata then continued to feed the little boy.  
  
As soon as the rice had entered the boy's mouth, he pretended to chew on it for a while,   
and waited for Hijikata to look away.  
  
Once his opportunity came, he spit out the mashed up food that was in his mouth at Hijikata.  
  
"This is going to be a long, long night." He mumbled curses as he tapped his fingers on the   
table, listening to Kenji laugh and giggle at him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
1) Shuriken: The word shuriken means ``a dagger hidden in a palm,'' so all daggers small   
enough to hide in a palm were called by this name. They have many varieties in their shape   
and usage. Some are star-like shaped, and thrown with spin. Some are needlelike shaped,   
and thrown just like a throwing dagger. Though a shuriken can hardly penetrate armor protection,   
it was enough because ninja threw it at unarmed target mainly. Venom was used with shuriken   
normally.  
  
Ahh...gomen gomen minna-san...lol...I changed the name of the girl and gave her name to   
Hijikata's....nvm...I shouldn't spoil it. Anyway, Arigatou minna-san, pls r&r , ne? ;)   
  
p/s: Arigatou kitsune-chan, for giving me the title. 


	8. Twins?

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *'   
They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.  
  
Twins?  
  
  
"Ahh...itai..." Okina woke up that morning with a huge hangover. His head was pounding.  
  
Beside him, a girl sat, tray in hand. Her hair was midnight black; it shone blue in the   
sunlight. Okina winced to see who it was, his vision still a little blur.  
  
"Okina-san, I thought Omasu told you not to have too much to drink." The girl nagged at   
him, about how too much sake was bad for him, especially for someone his age.   
  
Even though Hikaru looked like she was not one to nag, she loved doing it. Everytime   
somebody would do somwthing wrong, especially Okina, she would always be there to correct   
them. It was always a habit of hers.  
  
"Maa maa Hikaru-chan. I don't think it would be wise of you to go on. Okina looks like he   
is going to throw up any minute." Another girl stood, leaning on the door frame.  
  
"Omasu-san...Demo..." Hikaru said.  
  
"Yeah, you should listen to her." Okina stood up with the help of his walking cane.  
  
Hikaru moved by the old man's side, helping him to the door.  
  
"By the way, why's Himura?" Okina asked, getting only a frown from both girls.  
  
"While you were napping yesterday night, we received a note from Hijikata telling Himura-san   
that if he wants his son back, he and the rest have to meet at the centre of town later."   
Hikaru replied, her face showing only worry.  
  
"Hikaru was even injured yesterday, luckily it wasn't poison that was coated on the shuriken,   
if not she wouldn't be here now." Omasu added.  
  
"I see, gomen Hikaru-chan, for getting you involved. But, where is Himura now?"" The old   
man walked down the hallway, with both Hikaru and his cane supporting him.  
  
"Omasu, can you please come here and give me a hand." A voice called, from behind the   
kitchen door.  
  
"Excuse me." Omasu rushed to the kitchen, hoping that one of the guys didn't break or spill   
anything.  
  
"Himura-san? He's downstairs eating his breakfast." She answered.  
  
"Ahh...good." Okina said, as he slowly walked down the stairs.  
  
  
"Kenshin, daijoubu?" Kaoru asked, when she noticed that he had been very quiet through   
breakfast.  
  
Soujirou switched his view from the bickering pair to the couple, worried at how Kenshin   
might react later.  
  
"Ah." He answered, picking at his food.  
  
Kaoru knew that Kenshin was never a good liar, but this time was different. He didn't even   
try to hide his feelings through his voice.  
  
"Himura, I'm glad that you are still here." Okina, yelled through the noise the other   
customers were making.  
  
The old man almost tripped as he rushed down the stairs to greet the red haired man,   
fortunately, Hikaru rushed up to him in time to prevent it from happening.  
  
"Okina...daijoubu?" She asked.  
  
"Ahh.."   
  
The old man walked to meet Kenshin and the rest, only to have been almost caught in the   
crossfire of Yahiko's and Sanosuke's fight over who will get the last onigiri.(1)  
  
"Ohayo Okina-san." Both Kaoru and Kenshin greeted the man.  
  
"Ah, Ohayo Himura-san. I heard from Hikaru what had happened last night, are you alright?"   
Okina said, unconsciously picking up the onigiri, and eating it.  
  
"AH!" Both Sanosuke and Yahiko shouted, and stopped their fight, tearing as they watch   
Okina gulp down the last of the rice ball.  
  
"Um? What's wrong?" The old man asked as he turned to look at the other two people.  
  
"Ano...Okina-san..." Soujirou pointed to the empty plate, smiling as he sweatdropped.  
  
"Huh?" Okina said, still unaware of how dangerous his current position is.  
  
Both Sanosuke and Yahiko got into their respective stance, before pouncing and strangling   
the old man. Yahiko begin pulling the man's white hair, while Sanosuke shook the old man,   
both forgetting how fragile the man was.  
  
"Oi! Futari dono, Yamette Kudasai!(2)" Hikaru shouted.  
  
The whole restaurant went quiet at the sound of her voice. Even Sanosuke and Yahiko paused,   
fists held in mid air. The girl blushed at the response she got, before apologizing to   
everyone. Not long after, everyone got back to their breakfast.  
  
"Anyway, Okina, was there anything which you wanted to speak to me about?" Kenshin asked,   
stopping to look up at the old man.  
  
"Ah...I just wanted to ask you if you could take Hikaru along with you." Okina asked.  
  
"NANI!" Both Kenshin and Hikaru yelled at the Okina, who took a sip of his green tea.  
  
Once again, everyone in the restaurant paused, and turned to look at Kenshin and Hikaru.   
When neither of the two turned to apologize or even say anything to the white hair man,   
all of them went back to their own meal.  
  
"What did you say?!" Hikaru asked, this time lowering the volume of her voice.  
  
"Yeah. Why does Hikaru need to come along with us? She could get injured." Kenshin said to   
the man, who was still calmly sipping his tea.  
  
"Well, if you are going to get Kenshin back, you'll need someone to bring him back here.   
Hikaru can do it." Okina answered.  
  
Both Hikaru and Kenshin calmed down, realizing the man's plan.  
  
"So, you want me to go along, and bring Himura-san's son back here." The girl asked.  
  
"Hai. Is that alright with you?"   
  
"Aa..."  
  
Hikaru was not too good at cooking, neither was she good at fighting. The only thing she   
knew she was good at was cleaning up and looking after children.   
  
"Arigatou, minna-san." Kenshin said.  
  
Everyone seated at the table turned their attention to the red-headed samurai, wondering   
why he thanked them even before they did anything.  
  
Everyone nodded, before Okina reminded them of the time. Then, all of them, including   
Hikaru, stood up and made their way to the designated place.  
  
When they reached there, they did not see anyone with Kenji. Even though it was this   
crowded, it would still be easy to spot a red headed boy in the crowds.  
  
Then, a voice greeted them.  
  
"You are Himura Kenshin I suppose?" A girl, with black blue hair tied up in a ponytail,   
approached them.  
  
None of them were prepared for the person standing in front of them, especially Hikaru.   
Before them, stood the splitting image of Hikaru, both had the same face, hair, and eyes.   
They looked exactly alike.  
  
Everyone looked at Hikaru, then at the new girl. Then, back to Hikaru, at the same time,   
giving each other odd looks.  
  
"Is it me or am I seeing double?" Sanosuke was the first to speak, breaking the silence   
between his friends.  
  
Yahiko was still busy staring at the pair, jaw on ground. Kaoru was still comparing the   
two girls. Soujirou and Kenshin kept their masks on, while Hikaru was the most affected.  
  
"Kaede? Is that you?" Hikaru asked, walking up to the girl, tearing, thinking she has found   
the sister she thought she had lost two years ago.  
  
"What! Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Kaede backed away a step.  
  
"Kaede, don't you remember me? Watashi wa Hikaru, anata wa neesan.(3) Don't you remember   
anything at all?" Hikaru was now standing in front of the other girl.  
  
"Urusai! (4)" Kaede pushed her 'sister' away from her, retreating towards the crowd as she   
did.  
  
"Kaede, matte...Ikanaide...(5)" Hikaru said, reaching for her sister while she lay lying   
on the floor.  
  
"Matte!" Sanosuke chased the other girl, intending to find out what was going on.   
Unfortunately, he was too late. By the time he reacted, the girl was gone, she melted into   
the crowd, like an ice cube into water.  
  
"Eh? Soujirou-kun?" Kaoru turned to notice that the boy was missing.  
  
"Here!" The boy waved a hand above the crowd, to show them that he was there.  
  
Soujirou walked towards the group, pulling a girl behind him.  
  
"Let go of me!" She said, before jump kicking the boy in his back.  
  
Soujirou landed on the floor swirly-eyed. No one moved to help him except Kenshin, who   
offered the boy a hand.  
  
"Arigatou." Soujirou got up and patted himself.  
  
"Kaede, I now that you and Hikaru have something to settle, but weren't you here to return   
Kenji to us?" Yahiko said, threatening her with his shinai.  
  
The girl simply pushed it out of the face, before taking a step forward.  
  
"Yes. But, there has been a change of plans. Hijikata-san will only return the boy to you   
after you battle him." She pointed to Kenshin. A smile crossed her face.   
  
"And you, whoever you are, will battle me." The grin on her face widened as she turned to   
Hikaru, who was still shocked.  
  
"Wait a minute. She didn't come here to fight. If you want to battle anyone, I'll be the   
one." Kaoru stepped forward, ignoring the glance Kenshin shot her when she said that.  
  
"You? Why would I want to fight you, busu!" The girl turned her back to a now fuming Kaoru.  
  
"NANI!"   
  
Kenshin held Kaoru back with all his strength, but found that he needed more help. Not long   
after, Kenshin was beaten to the ground by Kaoru, and she was making her way to the girl   
who had her back facing them.  
  
"Maa maa, Kaoru-san, she was only..."  
  
* whack *  
  
Soujirou was next to lay on the ground, by Kenshin. Both beaten by the same girl.  
  
Yahiko laughed when he heard what Kaede had called Kaoru, but stopped when Kaoru turned to   
glare at him.  
  
"If you are done playing around, will you follow me?" Kaede did not wait for an answer from   
the group.   
  
Instead, she just walked ahead, ignoring them as they shouted for her to wait. Sanosuke was   
made to carry both Kenshin and Soujirou. Lucky for him, they were both as light as they   
looked.  
  
All of them continued to follow Kaede, until they reached the entrance of town. Stopping   
in their tracks when they noticed where they were.  
  
"Oi! Where are you bringing us anyway?" Yahiko shouted.  
  
Kaede ignored the boy, instead, she continued walking, not losing her pace. A while later,   
they had already entered the forest, all of them wondered if they were actually being   
played with by Hijikata.  
  
The sun was high in the sky, before Kaede stopped in. In front of them, were a few horses   
tied to a tree.   
  
"We're here. I'm sure you all know how to ride a horse."  
  
Kaede almost fell over when she found out that only Kenshin and Soujirou knew how to handle   
horses. The other four did not have a clue how to. What's worse, the tall one who looks   
like a chicken was afraid of them.  
  
'Ahh...this is going to be a long trip...' Kaede thought, before leaning against a tree to   
take a short nap while the red-headed man and the smiley-face boy teach their friends how   
to ride a horse.  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
1) Onigiri: Rice ball  
2) Futari dono, Yamette Kudasai! : Will both of you please stop!  
3) Watashi wa Hikaru, anata wa neesan : I'm Hikaru, your sister.  
4) Urusai! : Shut up!  
5) Ikanaide: Don't go.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Gomen ne minna-san, especially to all those who think I used too much Japanese in this   
chapter...* plus, I know I probably made some mistakes, so please correct me if I did *...  
It's just that, if I use English, it may sound a little funny...hehe...anyway, pls r&r.   
Arigatou! 


	9. Mixed feelings?

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *  
'They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.  
  
Mixed feelings?  
  
By the time Kenshin and Soujirou had solved their problems, it was already late afternoon,   
and the sun was going to set soon if they didn't leave soon.  
  
In the end, Kaoru rode with Kenshin, and Soujirou had the job of keeping Sanosuke on the   
horse, while the other man clung on to him like a leech.  
  
Yahiko rode with Hikaru. He was the only one who was able to absorb everything that   
Soujirou told him. Hikaru, just held on to him.  
  
"Oi! Girl sleeping by the tree, do you mind?" Sanosuke said, shivering as he did. Is fear   
of horse, made him lose his usual coolness.  
  
He even let Yahiko joke about him; not caring as long as they were on the horse, but once   
they were off, the street fighter would see that Yahiko gets his share.  
  
"We have to quicken our pace if you want to reach there tonight." Kaede urged her horse to   
hasten its speed, again, not waiting for an answer for those behind her.  
  
"Matte! " Soujirou caught up with her in no time.  
  
Considering that he used to ride horses a lot when he ran errands for Shishio, he was   
expected to go that fast. But, there was still one problem...  
  
"Do you mind? Or have you forgotten about me?" The ex Zanza tapped the boy, informing him   
that there was a passenger with him, who was feeling very sick from the movement of the   
horse.  
  
"Ah. Sano-san, Gomen." The boy turned to smile at the man behind him, before slowing down.  
  
'These people are hopeless.' Kaede thought, before stopping.  
  
Not long after, everyone caught up with her, wondering why she stopped if she was the one   
who wanted to make it to wherever they were headed so urgently in the first place.  
  
"It looks like we have to stop here for the night, thanks to you people."   
  
"Hm! It's not our fault. Before you guys came and disrupted our lives, we didn't need to   
ride horses." Kaoru got off the horse, with Kenshin's help. The veins in her head were   
throbbing, and from where Kaede was standing, they looked like they were going to burst.  
  
The raven haired girl just shrugged it off. She headed towards the forest, and somehow just   
blended into the dense forestation.  
  
"Great going Jou-chan. What if she decides to leave us here?" The former Zanza shouted at   
the girl, his own set of veins popping out of his head.  
  
"Don't worry, she has orders to follow, and she won't leave us here just like that. She   
probably just went to gather some firewood." Soujirou said, as he stared at the place   
where the girl was standing before she disappeared.  
  
"How would you know?!" Yahiko added, his feelings clearly showing in his voice.  
  
"He's right. She does not seem the type to just leave her orders just to get back at us.   
In the mean time, we'll have to gather some firewood too, before the sun sets." Kenshin   
said, motion for the girls to stay, while the rest went to look for wood.  
  
'Why is that girl so confident about us anyway? Does she think that we are a bunch of   
pushovers that she does not seem to mind camping with them overnight?' These questions   
nagged at the red-headed samurai's mind, the whole time he was looking for wood.  
  
  
Soujirou was finally able to get the fire started after Kenshin arrived with his own stack   
of wood. Apparently, the other two, collected their wood near the river, and the wood was   
already wet, so he could not start the fire. The wood he collected was not enough to start   
a big enough fire to last the night, or to keep them warm.  
  
Kaede returned soon after Soujirou started to fire, mumbling something about how at least   
the smiley face boy knew how to start a fire correctly.  
  
Soujirou left after he was done adding wood to the fire. The boy left their camp,   
disappearing into the bushes just as Kaede had done not too long ago.  
  
"Where is he going?" Kaoru asked.  
  
"Probably went to get dinner." Yahiko answered, recalling the nights where Soujirou would   
always get them dinner. "He's very good at fishing." The boy nodded to confirm his sentence.  
  
With that, Kaede stood up, and followed the path the boy took.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Sanosuke said, holding on to her arm.  
  
"Somewhere..." With one swing of her arm, she somehow managed to get out of the man's   
supposedly tight grasp.  
  
Kaede walked, just walked, when she found herself at the river, she stopped and saw the   
blue clad boy, trying to catch some fish, obviously for the rest back at camp.  
  
Quietly, the girl took a step forward, hiding behind some trees. She watched on as the boy   
continued fishing. Whenever she saw it was safe, she would move closer to get a clearer   
look at him. Somehow, she knew that the boy seemed different from the rest, except   
Battousai of course. But still, something told her that Battousai was not the one she   
should worry about.  
  
Suddenly, Soujirou tensed up, feeling that someone was near, and watching him, he pulled   
his katana out of the water, fish on the other end. He pulled the wriggling creature off   
the tip and put it with the others he had already caught.  
  
All the time, Kaede kept a close eye on him. Suddenly, the boy vanished into thin air. The   
next thing she knew, he was in front of her, the sharp edge of his katana at her neck. She   
stared wide eyed at the boy, as he apologized and withdrew his katana.  
  
"What are you doing here? It's dark, and it's dangerous to wander alone here at night." The   
boy said, smiling as he did.  
  
"Who are you?" Kaede asked, following the boy to get his other things, before walking back   
to camp.  
  
"Does it matter?"  
  
"No." The girl snorted her reply, losing her patience. 'How in the world can he smile so   
much?!'  
  
"Then why did you ask?"   
  
The boy smiled again, looking at the girl.  
  
That was one question that she didn't expect. Taken back, she ignored him all the way back   
to camp, where Sanosuke and Yahiko were waiting impatiently for the boy to return.  
  
  
"Mmmm...that was delicious..." Yahiko leaned against a tree, a wide grin on his face as he   
patted his stomach.  
  
"Yeah, I haven't eaten this much in my life." Sanosuke mimicked the boy, fishbone in mouth   
as he spoke.  
  
"Only for the two of you! I can't believe you ate Soujirou's share too. All he had was a   
tiny little fish for dinner." Kaoru went on nagging at the two, while Soujirou tried to   
persuade her that alright since he was not hungry in the first place.  
  
Hikaru watched as her 'sister' watched on, obviously enjoying the commotion which was   
taking place in front of them.  
  
Whereas Kenshin was just sitting there, looking at the fire, as it danced on the burning   
wood, as if he would find an answer if he looked at it hard enough.  
  
  
~*~  
  
"Oro.." The boy said, as he poked the older man's nose, causing him to drop the boy.  
  
Kenji then started running around Hijikata, giggling as he tugged at the man's hakama ,   
loosening his obi (1) bit by bit.  
  
As Hijikata bent down to try and pick up the boy, His obi loosened again, this time,   
causing his hakama to drop.  
  
Lucky for, his reaction to the situation was fast, he immediately caught hold of his hakama,   
and pulled it back up.  
  
The man grumbled as he gave up trying to catch the boy at the moment. Right now, the most   
important thing on his mind was tying back his obi. This time, making sure it was tight, so   
the boy would not be able to play the same trick twice.  
  
Kenji watched on, as the man struggled with his obi, his katanas entangled, the whole thing   
in a mess. Kenji playfully laughed as he saw the man hit himself accidentally with the back   
of his saya.  
  
"Itai...." Hijikata, at that moment, just felt like strangling the boy there and then, but   
when he heard the boy laugh, he could not bring himself to. 'Breathe. Breathe.' The man   
told himself as he scooped up the giggling boy into his arms.  
  
Kenji stared at the man, wondering why he was not shouting at him like his mother did when   
he had done the same thing to his father. Then, his attention span, being as short as the   
width of a needle, the boy started giggling and this time, he somehow managed to grab hold   
of the man's ponytail, and pulled it.  
  
"Itai!...Not again..." Hijikata, never thought that anything like that would or could   
happen to him in a million years. Slowly, with one hand, he slowly entangled the boy's   
fingers from his hair.  
  
'I wonder how Himura puts up with this boy. I didn't think it would be this hard to get a   
single child to get into the bathe tub.' The man sighed, suddenly full of praise for the   
once proud Hitokiri Battousai.  
  
~*~  
  
Kaede was the first to awake, as soon as she got up, she went to the stream nearby to fill   
her bottle with water.  
  
When she got back, she saw the boy and the hitokiri awake.   
  
"Ohayo Kaede-chan." The boy greeted her cheerfully, his boyish smile, once again plastered   
on his face.  
  
"Hn.." The girl only nodded a reply.  
  
"I think we'd better wake them now, the earlier we reach there, the faster the whole thing   
will end." Kenshin said, nudging Kaoru in the shoulder.  
  
"Hai." Soujirou walked over Sanosuke, thinking that it would be easy to wake him up.   
  
But, as soon as Soujirou tapped the man on the shoulder to wake him up, Sanosuke's reflexes   
took charge. The man suddenly tried to hit Soujirou, missing only because Soujirou knew it   
was coming.  
  
"Ano, Kaede-chan, can you please wake Hikaru-chan up for me?" The boy smiled at the girl,   
only rewarded with a punch in the cheek.  
  
"Itai..." The boy brought one of his hands up to cheek to rub the newly acquired bruise.  
  
"Let me do it." Soujirou was pushed aside, by none other then Kaoru.  
  
"Oi, Tori Atama(2), Wake up!" That was soon followed by a kick to the man's head.  
  
"Itai..." Sanosuke woke up, a throbbing pain in the back of his head.  
  
"There, that is how you do it." Kaoru said to the boy, who was staring wide-eyed at both   
the girl and the chicken headed man.  
  
"Next..." Kaoru lifted her sleeves, walking towards Yahiko.  
  
Soujirou and Kenshin winced as they 'heard' Kaoru wake Yahiko up.  
  
"Jou-chan..." Sanosuke taps her shoulder.  
  
"What is it?" Kaoru turned to shout at Sanosuke.  
  
The man just pointed at the boy in front of her. The boy's hand was twisted in what looks   
like a very painful position. He was twitching, from the pain.  
  
"Kao...ru...ahh...." His voice cracked as he too cracked along with it.  
  
"Ahh...Yahiko, Gomen gomen." The girl laughed as she bent down to check that she didn't   
wound him too badly.  
  
Both Kaede and Hikaru started laughing at the sight. Who knew that traveling with the   
Kenshin gumi could be so much...fun?  
  
Kaede winced at her thoughts. What was she feeling all of a sudden? Why was she feeling   
anything in the first place? Kaede decided to shake away her thoughts when she felt someone   
staring at her.  
  
"What is it?!" Kaede asked, glaring at the other girl.  
  
"Nothing, it's just that for a while there, you looked different." Hikaru said, turning to   
walk towards the rest of the group, leaving Kaede leaning against the tree...drowning in   
her thoughts.  
  
  
When they had reached their destination, they realized that Kaede was gone.  
  
"Eh, where is she?" Kaoru asked.  
  
"I don't know, but I think that we have other more important things to worry about right   
know." Kenshin said, using one if his hands to tap Kaoru's, who was sitting behind him.  
  
Everyone looked at the place in front of them. Jaws dropping at the sight.  
  
"What is this?" Yahiko said, loosening Hikaru's grasp on him.  
  
"A maze." Everyone turned to look at the boy, who smiled in reply.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
1) Obi: The obi is the sash that holds everything together. They vary from formal elaborate   
obi, as for young women or geisha, to the very simple, barely visible obi for men. In   
addition to the actual obi, the obi-age or "scarf" is worn under the obi, just peeping out   
over the top, and the obi-jime is the cord that goes around the middle of the outside.   
There is a world of nuance and subtle meaning in the choice of obi fabrics and accessories   
as well as the way they are arranged.  
  
2) Tori Atama: In case any of you guys forgot what it means, it means, chicken head...;)  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
ahhh...another chapter done....minna-san, onegai r&r, ne? Anyway, on for the next chapter...  
for me. Arigatou!...demo...one warning, I'm very bad at writing action scenes...hehe...  
* sweatdrop *...ja! 


	10. Enemy from past

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *'  
They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.  
  
Enemy from the past  
  
"Not again..." groaned the former street fighter, remembering the last time they had came   
to Kyoto, Shishio had them running about in a maze, with Yumi as their guide.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm sure that we'll be able to find out way through it." Soujirou said, as he   
made sure that everyone was ready.  
  
"How can you be so sure?" A certain spiked haired boy asked.  
  
Even though he has been traveling with the blue clad boy for so long, Yahiko still could   
not bring himself to trust him. The fact that Soujirou used to be the Tenken and that he   
wanted to kill Kenshin, didn't help much.  
  
Yahiko only received a smile from the boy.  
  
"Alright then, everyone, place your right hand against the wall, and leave there as you   
walk. That way, you won't get lost so easily." Soujirou said, walking into the maze first.  
  
Everyone one else only followed him once Kenshin went in after the boy, all placing their   
hands against the wall as they did.  
  
According to Yahiko, after almost a hundred right turns and a few thousand left turns, they   
were still wandering around the place.  
  
'I don't think that we'll ever make it out of here with Soujirou guiding us...Who knows,   
maybe...' Yahiko was cut short, when he felt someone watching them.  
  
Immediately, the boy went on his guard. Soujirou and Kenshin had obviously sensed it too,   
both were tensed up, Soujirou's hand inched towards the hilt of his katana, ready to attack   
anyone who dared to attack them.  
  
Suddenly, a boy, who looked like he was barely fifteen, jumped out of the bushes, attacking   
Yahiko from behind.   
  
The boy had shoulder long hair, which was pulled back into a tiny ponytail tail. He had   
chinese like eyes, which showed nothing, It almost reminded Yahiko of a certain raven   
haired boy he knew.  
  
"Yahiko!" Kaoru ran towards her former student, helping him with his opponent.  
  
"Kenshin, go, we'll take care of him. " Just then, the boy dashed towards the pair. Katana   
held at face level.  
  
"Demo..." Kenshin said.  
  
"Go! We'll catch up with you later." Kaoru yelled, as she blocked his attack, only to have   
her boken sliced in two.  
  
"Hai!" Kenshin said, continuing their path. "Let's go!"  
  
'Kenshin..." Kaoru thought, before she heard Yahiko calling her. Immediately, she dropped   
her boken, and caught the blade of the boy's katana with the use of her hands.  
  
Shocked, the boy pulled back his katana and blocked Yahiko's incoming attack.  
  
"Kaoru. Daijoubu?" Yahiko shouted as he ran to her side. Shinai still in hand.  
  
"Aa..." The girl's voice trailed off as she tore two pieces of cloth from her hakama. She   
took them, and wrapped them around her wounded plams. 'This will have to do for now...'  
  
Kaoru moved forward, picking up the two pieces of stick, which used to be her boken until   
'someone' sliced it in two.  
  
"What do you intend to do with that? Stake me?" The boy laughed, as he once again got into   
an attacking stance.  
  
"Che! Challenging an injured girl, how cowardly can anyone get?" Yahiko spat, glaring at   
the boy, anger growing inside of him.  
  
"And you would be a better opponent for me, why?"   
  
"Hmp! Quit talking so much and fight already, I'm getting bored." Yahiko faked a yawn,   
angering his opponent.  
  
"Fine! Let's see if your skills are as foul as your month is." The boy grinned before   
running up to Yahiko.  
  
  
"Himura-san, I think you'd better let me go back there." Soujirou asked, eyes still focused   
on the path.  
  
"I'm sure Kaoru and Yahiko will be alright." Kenshin replied.  
  
"I know, but I somehow have a bad feeling about this."  
  
A pause within the group took place. Sanosuke kept to himself, while Hikaru was probably   
busy thinking of her sister.  
  
Soujirou suddenly turned to face the older man, apologizing before running off in the direction   
they came from.  
  
"Oi! Where are you going?!" Sanosuke shouted behind the boy, but it was too late, he was   
already gone.  
  
Behind him, Kenshin stared at the path before him, walking on as what Soujirou had just   
said echoed on in his mind.  
  
'I'll save Kaoru and Yahiko no matter what. Go on ahead, I'll catch up with you once I'm   
done."  
  
'What did he mean by 'once I'm done'? Done with what?' Kenshin questioned, as he guided his   
two friends through the maze.  
  
  
"Stop!" A voice yelled from behind Yahiko.  
  
At the sound of the voice, the Chinese looking boy stopped in his tracks, staring at the   
shadow approaching them.  
  
"Your fight is with me."  
  
Both Kaoru and Yahiko stared at the person who had just emerged from the shadow, both not   
believing what they were hearing and seeing.  
  
"Seta Soujirou. I wondered if it was you. I guess I was right." He replied.  
  
"Follow the white thread, it'll bring you back to Himura-san. Hurry up and leave with   
Yahiko." The blue clad boy whispered the instructions to Kaoru as he walked past her.  
  
The girl nodded, before motioning to the other boy to follow her.  
  
"Hey, where are you..."  
  
"Leave them out of this, Setsuna, they have nothing to do with this." Soujirou said, moving   
to block the boy's way.  
  
"Since when did you care about people?" The boy grinned as he placed his katana back into   
its saya and crossed his arms.  
  
"All the time if you must know." The Tenken answered as he relaxed a little.  
  
Setsuna laughed at the answer he had received.  
  
"All the time? What about when you went around killing people, including my family."  
  
"I didn't want to. I was given an order, and I just did what I was told." Soujirou replied   
coldly.  
  
"To kill someone who didn't do anything to you. My parents were just farmers, and my sister   
was only four when you murdered her."   
  
The other boy's mask was breaking, Soujirou could see the anger building up behind his cold   
blue eyes.  
  
"They saw me. That's all that they needed to do to get themselves killed."   
  
"They were only at the wrong place and the wrong time. Is that what you are trying to say?"   
Setsuna answered, slowly moving his hand to the hilt of his katana.  
  
"Yes, more or less. Although I'm sorry for what I did in the past, I know nothing I do can   
ever change it, but..."   
  
"But what?! You'll change now. It's too late." The boy said, drawing his katana and   
attacking the person who had murdered his family in cold blood nine years ago.  
  
  
"Kenshin!" Kaoru shouted as she ran up to him.  
  
"Kaoru...Daijoubu ka?" Kenshin asked, as he took Kaoru into his arms.  
  
"Hai, but Soujirou is still back there." Kaoru answered.  
  
"Oi, busu, don't forget who he is, I'm sure he'll be able to... Itai!" Yahiko bented down,   
rubbing the newly formed swell on his head.  
  
"What was that for?!" The boy asked.  
  
"For calling me 'busu'." The girl whacked the boy once again on his head, enraging him even   
further.  
  
"Maa maa, right now, we should focus on where we are going." Kenshin said, coming between   
the two.  
  
"Ahh...Himura-san is right, we should get going before we are made to spend the night here,   
I sure don't want to." Hikaru said as she came out from behind Kenshin.  
  
"Hai hai..." Yahiko said, crossing his arms as he walked on, behind Sanosuke.  
  
  
"Kaede-chan, good, you're back." Hijikata said, dumping the red headed imp into the girl's   
arms.  
  
Kenji laughed as he clung on to the girl.  
  
"How do you get him to listen to you in the first place?" Hijikata asked, staring at the   
girl, surprised at how Kenji didn't try to bite or pull her hair, or try to run away.  
  
"Nothing, I just treat him the way my mother used to treat me, that's all." Kaede said,   
before turning to go into her room.  
  
"Like her mother?" The man stared at the closed door to her room, before turning to walk   
away to handle his own matters.  
  
  
Soujirou found himself in a little pinch. Setsuna's skills were almost an equal match for   
his. Although his skills were not as good as his own, he could feel the boy's spirit, and   
he had a feeling that Setsuna would not give up until his last breathe.  
  
'Fine, if he wants to do things the hard way,...'   
  
Setsuna attacked Soujirou, just as he was about to finish the boy off, Soujirou was gone,   
disappeared. One moment, he was standing right in front of him, and next, he was gone.  
  
Setsuna grinned. "I was wondering when you would use that technique, but let's see if it   
works on me." The boy then stood his ground, with his eyes closed.  
  
As soon as Soujirou moved in for the attack, Setsuna opened his eyes and blocked his attack.   
Soujirou, seeing this, jumped away.  
  
"Funny, I thought only Himura-san could block my Shinkuchi. I think it is because of the   
lack of practice." Soujirou said, looking like a little lost boy.  
  
"Never underestimate me, or anyone here for that matter." Setsuna replied, grinning widely.  
  
'What was that supposed to mean?'   
  
"I never underestimated you, or anyone, and i never will." Soujirou replied. He had to admit,   
fighting Setsuna was almost like fighting his own shadow. Almost.  
  
'I will not let him beat me...' The former Tenken took a deep breath as he prepared himself   
for the next attack.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hai minna-san. Here's the next chapter. Gomen gomen, I took so long to write this chapter..  
hehe....pls r&r ne? Arigatou!!! 


	11. Short cut?

Mirai  
  
Disclaimer: Sessha does not own the anime rurouni kenshin or any of it's character.   
'Although it would be nice too....* sniff sniff *'   
They all belong to the great Watsuki Nobuhiro.  
  
Short cut?  
  
"Kenshin, do you have any idea where you are going? It's getting dark, and we're still lost   
in this maze." Yahiko asked, whining behind Sanosuke.  
  
"Will you keep it down back there? Finding the end of this thing is not as easy as you   
think." Sanosuke said, not turning back to look at the boy.  
  
"Hmp! Fine, but if you...hmp!"  
  
"Yahiko?" Sanosuke said, as he turned around.  
  
Shocked, the former gangster called Kenshin, and told him that the boy was missing.   
  
"Yahiko!" Kenshin called out, thinking of something to get his friend back.  
  
  
Soujirou stood still, while the boy attacked him repeatedly, raising his katana once in a   
while to block the attack.  
  
'Something's wrong. His attacks are getting weaker.' Soujirou looked at Setsuna's movements,   
something was hindering him. It was not only his attack that was getting worse, he was   
losing his agility.  
  
"Tired?" Soujirou asked, smiling.  
  
The raven haired boy stopped to take a deep breath.  
  
"Never!" He shouted before running at Soujirou, only to find he was gone as soon as he   
blinked.  
  
"Nani?"  
  
Soujirou took this opportunity, and attacked the boy from the back. And it ended.  
  
'Did I kill him?' Soujirou asked, as he dropped his katana on the floor, staring at his   
hands.  
  
The boy turned around. Noticing that there was no blood on the ground.  
  
'I must have turned my blade as I attacked him...'  
  
With that, Soujirou walked up to the boy and apologized before picking up his katana and   
running straight into the direction of where Kenshin and the rest were.  
  
  
"What's the status to far?" Hijikata asked.  
  
Out of nowhere, a girl appeared, dressed in a ninja's uniform.  
  
"Setsuna has been defeated by the Tenken, and it seems that Chikiko has done it again."   
  
Both sighed.  
  
"Again? I thought I ordered him to fight fair this time." Hijikata asked.  
  
"Yes sir. But it seems that old habits are very hard to get rid of." The girl lifted her   
head, to reveal her startling crystal blue eyes.  
  
"Fine, after he's done, ask him to come back here."  
  
"Hai!" The girl answered before vanishing into the surrounding.  
  
  
"Kenshin, what do we do now?" Kaoru asked, coming up from behind Kenshin.  
  
All of them were obviously worried. They have only been in this maze for a few hours, and   
they have already lost two of their friends. Not to mention it was getting dark, and they   
were all hungry.  
  
"Himura-san!" A boy, his hair and clothes in a mess, appeared from behind the bushes.  
  
"Soujirou!" Kenshin went up to the boy and greeted him, as Kaoru and Hikaru stood together.  
  
"Daijoubu...We should get going before we get stuck here all night. Eh? Yahiko-kun wa doko?"   
The boy noticed as he looked around.  
  
"He just disappeared. One minute he's there, and the next, he's gone." Sanosuke nodded as   
he approached the two.  
  
Soujirou didn't find the former Zanza bad at all, or what people say about him true at all.   
Like once, when he was traveling around a small town, he heard some rumors about the Zanza   
being a big monster, who was fierce, and was built like a monster. Soujirou recalled that   
he saw the mna with Himura-san when he faught him, and he didn't look anything like what   
they say.  
  
The boy turned to examine the walls.  
  
"What are you doing?" Kaoru asked, as she walked up behind Sanosuke.  
  
"Seeing if there is some kind of trick door here or something, Shishio-san had a few here   
and there." He smiled at his companions, before going back to take a look at the walls.  
  
"No wonder that Yumi person was able to reach Shishio's room even though we left earlier   
then her." Sanosuke mumbled to himself.  
  
The other two men sweatdropped at their friend's 'new' discovery.   
  
"Now then he realizes..." Soujirou said, feeling the walls.  
  
"Ahehehe..." Kenshin just stood by and laughed.  
  
"Nani! You knew and you didn't tell me?!" Sanosuke almost pounced on the red headed samurai   
if Kaoru hadn't given him the 'If-you-dare-I-will-kill-you' look.  
  
Minutes passed before they found something.  
  
"Himura-san!" Soujirou called as he pushed something.  
  
Suddenly, a door appeared out of nowhere.  
  
"You think we should go in?" Sanosuke asked.  
  
"Aa. We have to take a risk." Kenshin said, before walking through it.  
  
The rest soon followed.  
  
"Kenshin..." Kaoru went up to the man's side, staying close to him.  
  
They were in a tunnel of some kind. It was dark, and only a few lamps lit the way. From   
where they were standing, the tunnel looked like a never-ending road.  
  
"You have got to be kidding me..." Hikaru whispered, before walking up behind Sanosuke, in   
front of Soujirou.  
  
"Nope..."  
  
All of them turned to glare at the ex-ganster.  
  
"What?"  
  
  
They all continued walking down the tunnel, until they heard some voices.  
  
"Hanasei!"  
  
"Stop moving, I'm trying to get you out of here!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
* pause *  
  
"Now, follow me!"  
  
Suddenly, a door by the side opened. Out came Kaede, and Yahiko behind her.  
  
"Yahiko!" Kaoru shouted, before realizing what she was doing, she ran up to the boy and   
hugged him.  
  
"Ergg...Let go of me!" Yahiko said, before taking his shinai and whacking his former sensei   
on the head.  
  
As soon as Kaede saw them, she was confused as to what she should do. Lead them straight to   
Hijikata or just finish them here.  
  
"Kaede.."   
  
Kaede turned at the sound of her name, only to find her 'sister'.  
  
"What do you want?!" Kaede said, attracting everyone's attention.  
  
"Iie...I just thought you seemed a little different just a second ago."  
  
"Hn!"  
  
"Kaede-chan, why did you rescue Yahiko?" Kenshin asked.  
  
"It was not supposed to be this way..." She mumbled.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"This way...and quickly..." Kaede ran ahead of them, stopping once in a while to check if   
they were all behind her.  
  
  
Not long after, they came to a door. Two guards were standing guard.  
  
Kaede just signaled for them to follow her before walking up to them. As soon as they saw   
her, Kenshin could have sworn that they flinched before they went back on guard.  
  
"They're with me." Kaede said.  
  
Both the guards nodded, before letting all of them through. Even that, as the Kenshin gumi   
walked past, the guards stared at them, still not trusting them.  
  
"Is it me or do I feel like someone is watching us?" Sanosuke asked, quickening his pace.  
  
"Why, scared?" Yahiko asked, acting like a chicken as he circled the former Zanza.  
  
Kenshin ignored both of them, keeping his sight only on Kaede and his mind on getting Kenji   
back.  
  
"Wait here."   
  
Kaede suddenly vanished again. This time, it was different, because she had no where to   
blend into. The walls were brightly decorated. A few portraits hung on the wall. The frames,   
as elegant as the rest of the room were.  
  
"Ahh...Himura, long time no see."  
  
"Hijikata...Where is my son?!"  
  
Kenshin, not wanting to waste any time, just moved straight to the point.  
  
"That can wait. I want to get my revenge first. This way Himura." The man said, turning   
around.   
  
The funny thing was, the way he and Kenshin spoke, was as if none of the others were   
standing there by him. Kenshin didn't try to stay calm like he always was.  
  
As soon as the rest tried to follow him and Hijikata, the guards stopped them, and suddenly,   
from out of nowhere, there found themselves surrounded by ninjas.  
  
"Kaoru-san..." The other girl whispered, standing in the centre of the other four fighters.   
All ready to fight.  
  
"Daijoubu...Everything will be okay..." Kaoru said, but obviously thinking otherwise in the   
back of her mind.  
  
"Aa...I haven't done this in a long time. I wonder if it'll be the same."   
  
The former gangster cranked his knuckles, as he got into his stance.  
  
'Me too...' Yahiko, Kaoru and Soujirou said in their minds.   
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ano...minna-san...I'm getting really tired of this story...even though I hate to admit   
it....yare yare...but I want to get to the end where Kenji...Uh hm...nvm....* evil grin *  
...anyway, pls r&r, ne? Arigatou, and Happy New Year!! 


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